Looking back, I am ashamed that I have not always upheld the values that I profess and believe in.
I have to trust something that gives me power; I have to believe in something, but in my career I have a lot of moments I cannot explain with God.
I think, when I was younger, I believed in - and yearned for - conventional beauty. I thought there was a spectrum from ugly to beautiful, and that you could objectively plot everyone you saw along it.
I'm one of the most optimistic persons in the world. I always believed that - there's another shot, another chance. In boxing, I never gave up. I kept trying, kept trying. Even when things seemed so dim, I continued to push forward to make something ...
I was raised to believe in myself. I know I'm cool. I'm not trying to brag or say I'm the man or anything like that. I don't lie or cheat, and I'm not mean to anybody. I treat people with respect.
I don't believe in organized religion - I dealt with them hand in hand, and a whole bunch of Catholic priests tried to molest me. Telling me I was gay and I should go home with them and stuff.
To research my book 'Me the People' - in which I have rewritten the entire Constitution of the United States - I flew to Greece, the birthplace of democracy. I bused to Philly, the home of independence. I even, if you can believe it, read the Constit...
I had hope, however; I had been wounded seven times during the war, and once before in this same lung; and I did not believe I was going to die.
I always believe that most people could do it. I mean obviously I didn't just sit and stand. I used to love cradling the gun and just posing with the hand cocked ready to fire the gun, and the costume helped a great deal.
When I say something, I want people to take it to the bank that I mean it and believe in it. It humbles me that companies want me. It's a challenge to uphold their values and make their product look good. I take that personally.
I have been DJing in clubs for years. I always dreamed to be a famous DJ in Holland. And now it's worldwide. You can't imagine. I mean, I still can't believe it myself that everything has gone so well.
God strengthened me and taught me who I am in Him. He taught me that not only do I need to have faith in Him, but I need to believe in myself again.
I run my own world, because I very firmly believe that my destiny, my future is in my hands and I don't want to blame anybody else for the path that I take.
I had gotten to a place where I truly believed everything I was called: 'not sexy,' 'not funny,' 'too intense,' desperate.' All those labels they gave me, I took them because there wasn't a trace of my true self left.
Many times I sit back and say, 'I can't believe that this is my life!' Other times, I feel self-satisfied. I mean, there's a lot to be proud and thankful for but, nonetheless, it's just a life!
When I was 16 or 17 I heard the Count Basie band with Jo Jones and Lester Young and Herschel Evans and I couldn't believe it. They were the greatest swing band. I really fell in love with that sound. Everybody danced!
I tried to bang down a lot of doors but Virgin were the only label who believed in what I was doing. I ended up with the label that understood what I was trying to do.
I always was kind of on the edge of the church when I was fully in it , cos I was always asking the questions... And I could never believe blindly.
Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena where I believed I truly belonged.
I believe in past lives but I know nothing about mine and I don't want to know. I live in the present, taking one day at a time.
There is not one single police officer in America that I am not afraid of and not one that I would trust to tell the truth or obey the laws they are sworn to uphold. I do not believe they protect me in any way.
