Mikasvlt

“I don't know where this pressure came from. I can't blame my parents because it has always felt internal. Like any other parent, my mother celebrated the A grades and the less-than-A grades she felt there was no need to tell anybody about. But not acknowledging the effort that ended in a less than perfect result impacted me as a child. If I didn't win, then we wouldn't tell anyone that I had even competed to save us the embarrassment of acknowledging that someone else was better. Keeping the secret made me think that losing was something to be ashamed of, and that unless I was sure I was going to be the champion there was no point in trying. And there was certainly no point to just having fun.”
― Portia de Rossi, Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain

“Competition is a rude yet effective motivation.”
― Toba Beta, Master of Stupidity

“You would always beat me; not so much because you are a better fighter as because you will not accept defeat.”
― John Christopher, The Sword of the Spirits

“I'm a godmother, that's a great thing to be, a godmother. She calls me god for short, that's cute, I taught her that.”
― Ellen DeGeneres