The only disability in life is a bad attitude.
The high road is always respected. Honesty and integrity are always rewarded.
Adversity, and perseverance and all these things can shape you. They can give you a value and a self-esteem that is priceless.
Most other competitions are individual achievements, but the Olympic Games is something that belongs to everybody.
When you're expected to win and you have the press saying that you are going to win the Olympic gold medal, and you're the only sure thing in the Olympics, it can undermine your confidence.
That's what makes the Ryder Cup in golf so much better than the Masters or the U.S. Open. To be a part of something that is not about personal achievement, but about representing everyone and sharing it with the whole country, it's wonderful.
I'm very accessible. I don't get into this ego thing.
When you turn professional, you become an entertainer, and like every other entertainer, you don't want to get a bad review.
Everything that I've ever been able to accomplish in skating and in life has come out of adversity and perseverance.
Fame is a very confusing thing, because you are recognized by a lot of people that you've never seen before, and they're at a great advantage.
But I never really thought that I would be extraordinarily successful at skating, it's just something that happened, you know.
I graduated a the top of my class in the '84 Olympic Games; I won a gold medal.
Half of figure skating is opinion, convincing judges.
Without strength and courage it's really hard to perform at the highest levels of international figure skating, because you're alone on the ice and you only have seven minutes over two nights to prove yourself.