Resilience

Our greatness has never, ever come from sitting back and feeling entitled to what we have. It's never come from folks who climb the ladder of success, or who happen to be born near the top and then pull that ladder up after themselves. No, our greatness has always come from people who expect nothing and take nothing for granted.

Your experience facing and overcoming adversity is actually one of your biggest advantages.

Failure or any kind of setback is not a destination. There was something good about being knocked down, as long as it wasn't your destination.

There will be blind alleys and one-night wonders and soul-crushing jobs and wake-up calls and crises of confidence and moments of transcendence when you are walking down the street and someone will thank you for telling your story because it resonated with their own.

You will be defined not just by what you achieve, but by how you survive.

Option A is not available. So let's just kick the shit out of option B.

You are not born with a fixed amount of resilience. Like a muscle, you can build it up, draw on it when you need it. In that process, you will figure out who you really are — and you just might become the very best version of yourself.

If you know what you're capable of, if you're always prepared, and you keep things in perspective, then life has a way of turning no into yes.

In its passivity and resignation, cynicism is a hardening, a calcification of the soul. Hope is a stretching of its ligaments, a limber reach for something greater.

Just to be here, you guys sacrificed and left behind your family, your friends, and your social circles, and started over again from scratch. At your age, even the smallest ripple in a social circle can cause an emotional tidal wave.

You shouldn't let failure define you, but instead you should let failure refine you.

I learned early that my meaning had to be from the experience of making the film and the possibility of connecting with individuals, rather than the foremost trophies in my industry — financial and critical success.