One of my favorite Japanese proverbs is "Fall down 7 times, stand up 8".

The danger is not to set your goal too high and fail to reach it. It’s to set your goal too low and reach it

The truth is that I didn't start as a winner. When I was a kid, I was just another reject. I started at the bottom. I think all winners do.

Training to become champion is the toughest thing. The fight itself is just a test.

Standing still is never a good option. Not in the ring, and not in life... When you stop moving, you're done.

It all comes down to confidence: your body can do great things only if it believes it can accomplish them.

I've trained myself to fight an army, so one guy will not defeat me.

People who believe in themselves can accomplish almost anything... all begins with attitude.

What happens when you accept and embrace your fear? Fear becomes your weapon.

Some people learn to lose. Others lose and learn.

Pick a goal, make a realistic plan to reach that goal, work through each step of the plan, and repeat.

Do all the work you can in your youthful days while you have the greatest strength.

Sometimes pain is God’s megaphone, his only way to get our attention.

Dehumanization, although a concrete historical fact, is not a given destiny but the result of an unjust order that engenders violence in the oppressors, which in turn dehumanizes the oppressed

Diplomacy: the art of restraining power.

I never knew how good it is to be unknown until now. The last time I was unknown I was too busy trying to become known to realize the advantages of obscurity.

As I keep saying, fiction is truth. I think fiction is the truest thing there ever was.

I am not a particularly political person, but, as a Tribeca resident, the commodification of September 11th is offensive to me.

The sight of the bare katana inspires everyone to a practically Nipponese level of politeness

To speak frankly, I am not in favour of long engagements. They give people the opportunity of finding out each other's character before marriage, which I think is never advisable.

I was probably in the best shape of any athlete at the time, but you don't get to pass judgment on yourself.