A Quote by Michael Essien

I still feel Ghanaian, but my mentality is more European. — © Michael Essien
I still feel Ghanaian, but my mentality is more European.
I struggled in London for a very long time. 'Be prepared to struggle a lot' - it's a European mentality. The American mentality is positive and 'You can do it' and 'Everything's possible.' In Europe it's an older, more realistic way of thinking. You feel like you're having to prove that you can do it.
Traveling, I've met Ghanaian people who have seen me in minor stuff, but they see the name Ato Essandoh, and they recognize it as a Ghanaian name. They come up to me and are always so excited. You don't think about it, but they really absorb American culture.
My mum was born and raised in Ghana and has a lot of Ghanaian values and traditions and morals. All that rubbed off on me, and that's why I have a lot of love and good energy in me - that universal energy is a Ghanaian thing.
In the industry there's this whole mentality of working with someone who can open the door for you, but my whole thing is that I like my work to speak for itself. So I still do have that same mentality.
For years now, the fake European 'left' is trying to portray European citizens as victims of the US imperialism. It is even trying to make the world feel sorry for those European workers who do not get a fair deal from their governments! It is thoroughly absurd.
You train far more in France than in England. Here, we still see football as a game. Football is a job. There is still the mentality where training is at 11, you come in at 10:30, and when it is finished, you leave straight away.
I still have the mentality of someone who doesn't know where he's going to sleep and doesn't know if he has enough money for gas to get to the next job interview. I don't think that mentality ever leaves, you know?
Every time I have the ball in my hands, which is every play, I feel I'm the best player on the team. That's just my mentality. I'm not saying that in a cocky way, but everybody should have that mentality when they step on that field.
We of the modern age are a bridge between the old human and the new one. We still have the mentality of the old human - a slave mentality, like the Children of Israel in Egypt: too controlled, full of fear.
Look at Ukraine. Its currency, the hernia, is plunging. The euro is really in a problem. Greece is problematic as to whether it can pay the IMF, which is threatening not to be part of the troika with the European Central Bank and the European Union making more loans to enable Greece to pay the bondholders and the banks. Britain is having a referendum as to whether to withdraw from the European Union, and it looks more and more like it may do so. So the world's politics are in turmoil.
The character and mentality of the keepers may be of more importance in understanding prisons than the character and mentality of the kept.
I still have the mentality of a street musician, because I was one for five years. Every opportunity that comes my way, I feel like, 'Absolutely, let's do this.' Sometimes, it's to my detriment. But I don't think you become successful by not saying yes to opportunities.
I've learned how to deal with pressure more. I'm still trying to achieve more in my game and add more to it. I feel like I'm still learning every day, and I want to keep on improving.
How can we later criticise other countries outside the European Union for adopting such measures to repress opponents when we are tolerating this inside the European Union with European citizens? Like me - I'm a European citizen.
The aim of art is a constant, and a continuous job to reveal visually the attitude of our mentality. And the less we disturb the influence of our mentality the more I believe we come close to the truth.
I am more than proud to be European. I love Europe, I love France, but I have an American mentality, and I don't know why. The way I see things, the way I talk, I'm the kind of person who, if I want to say something, I will say it - sometimes in Europe, it's not always what you need to do.
This site uses cookies to ensure you get the best experience. More info...
Got it!