Robin Roberts Quotes

It's about focusing on the fight and not the fright.

You have to CHANGE the way you THINK in order to CHANGE the way you FEEL

Before, I would play a little hoops, a little tennis. Now it's more yoga, Pilates, stretching, some light weight work, push-ups, sit-ups, resistance things. When I used to live on the eleventh floor, I would take the steps. I don't do that so much now. I'm taking the elevator a bit more these days.

Optimism is a muscle that gets stronger with use.

Generally in the Little League you're up against a good pitcher who throws like hell. What does the coach say? Get a walk. Isn't that beautiful way to learn to hit? For four years you stand up there looking for a walk.

At one point, we were all fearful. But as you get older, it's the things you don't do that you regret, more so than the things you do. When fear knocks, answer.

And I think it's often very hard for close friends to understand that sometimes you want them to be there but you don't have to say anything, that their presence is as powerful as anything else.

We are all a little bit stronger than we think we are.

I was brought up with the 3 Ds: Determination, Discipline and Da Lord.

I cannot believe how fine I am with being bald.

Life is not so much what you accomplish as what you overcome.

As I like to say, take the shot, even if your knees are shaking.

There is no doubt that someone who tries to throw a curve or pitch at any early age before he's developed, before his hand is big enough to grip the ball correctly, will damage his arm.

There is no magical reason why I am where I am. And there is absolutely no reason why you can't be where you want to be. If it can happen for me, it can happen for you, too. And it would be a privilege for me to help you get there.

When you are down and you don't know how to pick yourself up, start where you are. I can hear Pat's voice saying the words in my head, "Left foot, right foot, breathe.

Now I don't put things in the boxes anymore. I'm just focusing on right now.

Make you mess your message.

Venture outside your comfort zone. To stop growing is to stop living.

Another story Momma liked to tell was about how once she and Daddy went to visit the Middletons when Momma was pregnant with me. Daddy and Mrs. Middleton were laughing at Momma, because she was a little older and was surprised that she could get pregnant. I think Momma was thirty-seven at the time. Both she and Mrs. Middleton had children around the same age, and Mrs. Middleton sort of indicated that Momma should've quit while she was ahead. Well, it turns out right after that visit, Mrs. Middleton got pregnant. "I think she got pregnant that same night," Momma would say, adding, "Don't mess with karma, Cannie Middleton." Nine months later, Mrs. Middleton also had a baby girl.

I bet if we all threw our problems in a huge pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back. Don't compare your life to others'. You have no idea what their journey is about. That's why I always give people the benefit of the doubt; it's one of my rules to live by. There may be a reason why someone is having a bad day, there's often something that we can't see. She is not necessarily a bad person, just someone facing a bad situation.

Make your mess your message," Momma liked to say. And I did.

Since it was my first visit with Dr. Knapp, he sat with me in his office before examining me. He wanted to know my family history. He has a warm, easygoing nature that put me at ease. It felt as if he had been my doctor for years. Again, I did not mention the real reason why I was there. Later, I was surprised to learn that 80 percent of people diagnosed with breast cancer have no prior family history. Eighty percent! It makes you wonder why there's so much attention paid to disclosing prior family history.

There are those of us who believe out of that faith tradition that God never puts more on us than we can bear, and yet there are times, I think, particularly given what you were up against, that we have to question whether or not we have the capacity, the ability, the wherewithal, to actually endure it.

I'm grateful I had the strength to fight. It takes courage to believe the best is yet to come, especially when you are flat on your back and don't know if you're going to see tomorrow. I'm no Pollyanna, but I believe optimism is a choice - a muscle that gets stronger with use. Right foot, left foot ... just keep moving.

Cancer was nothing more than a chapter in my life's story. It would never be my life's story.

I love a doctor who can respect that somebody else is on your team, and that's God.

I have never been happier, or healthier, than I am right now.

But the best part of the evening was that there were whole hours when we sat around the fire pit and didn't say a word. We were together as a group, but they knew I needed silence. That can be very hard for friends.

I never slept when I lost. I'd see the sun come up without ever having closed my eyes. I'd see those base hits over and over and they would drive me crazy.

Make your mess your message.

Dreams are vague and far away. Goals are tangible and achievable.

Midway through my treatments, I was at the White House to do an interview with President Bush's press secretary, Tony Snow. He had recently revealed he was facing cancer for a second time. While there I was told that the First Lady, Laura Bush, wanted to see me in the private residence for tea. Mrs. Bush has a family history of breast cancer. She personally invited me to accompany her on a portion of an international breast cancer initiative with the Susan G. Komen Foundation, and I couldn't pass up this opportunity. My doctors cleared me to travel - although getting my mom's blessing was far more difficult. Remember, I was in the middle of chemo treatments. I spent time with Mrs. Bush in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, in the UAE and in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. I met some incredible women on the trip.

I've still got it. I refuse to lose.

My feeling is that when you're managing a baseball team, you have to pick the right people to play and then pray a lot.

Cancer forced me out of my comfort zone. But the reality is that in life, there are no true comfort zones. Life comes at us in ways that we can't predict or control.

When fear knocks, let faith answer the door.

Every now and again I just really have to have that steak or lamb chop. But yeah, B.C. - before cancer - I would eat red meat probably three or four times a week, easily. I am convinced that the amount of red meat I contributed to it.

I feel it's okay to get angry with God. He can take it. Just don't stay angry. It takes courage to believe that the best is yet to come. I hold steadfast to that belief, especially when I come face-to-face with adversity.