It's the only thing that allowed me to win so many championship fights and allowed me to put up with the bigotry of the media, the keyboard warriors, the critics. I've endured it all because, spiritually, I am buoyant, alive.
You are allowed to be alive. You are allowed to be somebody different. You are allowed to not say goodbye to anybody or explain a single thing to anyone, ever.
Charlotte means a lot to me. This city has embraced me - allowed me to be who I am, allowed me to grow as a man.
Stand up for what you think is right. That might be very different from what I am saying today, but you are allowed to differ from me just as I am allowed to differ from you. That is part of our strength as a country that we can differ from each other.
He was a very strict father, which in a way has helped me to become who I am today. He never pampered me, as he wanted me to live a normal life. No film magazines were allowed at home, and we weren't allowed to watch any movies.
But surely we are not allowed..." "Allowed?" I counters. "We're allowed to do anything in this world until someone says we ain't allowed and that someone can back it up.
School was always a major player in my personal journey. It allowed me to open up to the world, and also social mobility. It allowed me to enrich myself, to read, learn and understand.
I think people change, but the media, they never allowed me to change. They never allowed me to be a better person.
I think people change, but the media, they never allowed me to change. They never allowed me to be a better person
I don't feel comfortable with the idea that my only gateway into doing what I love to do is auditioning for other people to give me the green light and say that I'm allowed to do it, or that I'm allowed to play this role, or that I'm allowed to be in this movie. I would feel much more comfortable making those opportunities for myself.
Society may no longer define marriage in the only way marriage has ever been defined in the annals of recorded history. Many societies allowed polygamy, many allowed child marriages, some allowed marriage within families; but none, in thousands of years, defined marriage as the union of people of the same sex.
I think I just grew up with this receptivity that a lot of people might shut down at an early age because of the influences around them. I didn't really have that, so it just allowed me to trust what I see, hear and feel a lot more. It allowed me to have more confidence in going with my gut.
Becoming a father allowed me to become a much better composer, because it allowed me to have tremendous patience. I have much more tolerance for opposing opinions, short attention spans, changes of heart. And faith in the future.
I had the taste of the alcohol since I was 11. It allowed me to be clever, charming and to behave outrageously. Acting also allowed me not to be me. So I could indulge every fantasy in this paradise of America.
I joined Elton John's band in '75. He not only allowed me to play the electronic keyboard on his albums, he also let me do the orchestrations. Then I left the band and started producing records. I was not really a popular kind of hit music guy. I was attracted to more esoteric things.
Because of baseball I smelled the rose of life. I wanted to travel, and to have nice clothes. Baseball allowed me to do all those things, and most important, during my time with the Crawfords, it allowed me to become a member of the brotherhood of friendship which will last forever.
I am absolutely satisfied with my experience in English football because despite the two dismissals it allowed me to win more than one trophy and to live in a different environment from Italy, where I feel very happy.