I stay focused and I just keep going.

Vanessa Bell Calloway

Vanessa Bell Calloway on having tunnel vision

April 20, 2015

Source: Shadow & Act, 2015

When I moved to New York City, my mom dropped me off at the train station, and she stopped the car, and she just said to me, "Uzo, just work hard. I don't know what will come. I don't know when it will come. But if you work hard, I know something will come." And that stayed on my spirit. It's like seeped into the marrow of my soul, that if I can just work hard, I don't know what the thing will be, something will come.

The moment anyone tries to demean or degrade you in any way, you have to know how great you are. Nobody would bother to beat you down if you were not a threat.

I’m sure in your experiences—in school…in applying to college…in picking your major…in deciding what you want to do with life—people have told you to make sure you have something to “fall back on.” But I’ve never understood that concept, having something to fall back on. If I’m going to fall, I don’t want to fall back on anything, except my faith. I want to fall… forward. At least I figure that way I’ll see what I’m about to hit.

Denzel Washington

Being myself. Not paying attention when people say you’re great and not paying attention when people say you’re horrible.

If you believe in something enough, you’re going to make it work.

I don’t want to be good at it, I don’t want to be pretty good at it, I want to be world class at it.

I’ve always approached things with hunger and just enough fear. Plenty of confidence, you know, but just enough fear to work extra hard.

So we mustn't run out of steam. Sometimes young women think ‘Dammnnn, I’ve been doing this nine years and I don’t think anything has budged.' But keep plugging away. Nothing succeeds like success. Get a little success and then just get a little more.

I have found that when preparation meets opportunity, nothing is out of reach.

Stay on it, stay strong on your path. Many will say no, and that’s okay cause all it takes is that one yes. After that it will all start happening. You can’t give up. Don’t compare your acting life with others. We all mature as actors on different times and levels. Go after your dreams with all you’ve got and then some, because success is waiting for YOU, just around the corner.

Anthony Anderson

Every failed experiment is one step closer to success.

Denzel Washington

Dreams are lovely. But they are just dreams. Fleeting, ephemeral, pretty. But dreams do not come true just because you dream them. It's hard work that makes things happen. It's hard work that creates change.