The only disability in life is a bad attitude.
When you turn professional, you become an entertainer, and like every other entertainer, you don't want to get a bad review.
I was more interested in skating and the girls and traveling than I was in calculus.
I started skating and I kind of liked it because I could run circles around the guys that wouldn't pick me to play baseball.
Most other competitions are individual achievements, but the Olympic Games is something that belongs to everybody.
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.
And the fact that I liked to show off and be the center of attention really lends itself to figure skating very well.
And so figure skating was a great vehicle for me to kind of be competitive at something, without having to be big.
What was really funny is that as I got older all those guys who called me a sissy in junior high school wanted me to be their best friend because they wanted to meet all the girls that I knew in figure skating.
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.
Half of figure skating is opinion, convincing judges.
Male figure skating is different than female figure skating; we're not America's sweetheart.
I graduated a the top of my class in the '84 Olympic Games; I won a gold medal.
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.
I had a ninth grade teacher who told me I was much smarter and much better than I was allowing myself to be.
From the fall of October, 1980 to March, 1984 I never lost a competition.
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.
Adversity, and perseverance and all these things can shape you. They can give you a value and a self-esteem that is priceless.
Rationality is not one of this industry's attributes.
