I never imagined getting to do what I love for a living and having so many people appreciate it. There was only one other skater in my high school and we were the lowest form of cool. Our classmates couldn't figure out why we liked such a loser sport, or why we hadn't grown out of it yet. - Tony Hawk
I played team sports, but I never felt like I fitted in that well, so this allowed me to be part of a community but to do it in my own way. - Tony Hawk
I started skating when I was about 10 years old. It was in an alleyway. I picked up my brother's skateboard and stood on it. I started to roll down the alley, and I yelled at my brother asking him how I turn the thing. At the end of the alley, I just jumped off, picked up the board and physically turned it around. - Tony Hawk
I think that the board is a lot more intuitive than people assume. You get on it and all you have to do is put one foot on the tail and one foot on the nose and rock it up and down and that will get you into the tricks or wheelies or manuals. It's not about the balance so much as it is about the timing. - Tony Hawk
I think that there's a sense of self-reliance that exists in skateboarding that kids can take to their daily lives. I think there's also a sense of creativity and community-based goals - in skating, even though it is an individual pursuit, a lot of things that you learn are things that you borrow and expand from other people's ideas. I call skating a combined evolution - it's individual, it's artistic, but at the time, there is a communal push to keep doing your thing. And a sense of camaraderie in that. - Tony Hawk
I was skating with friends in my neighborhood, and then eventually I was invited to go to the skate park with one of them. When I saw people flying all around - literally flying in and out of bowls - that is when I knew I wanted to do it. I wanted to figure out how I could get there and how I could fly. - Tony Hawk
If you look at the success of snowboarding in the Winter Games and how that's brought a more youthful edge to the Olympics in general, they don't have that with the Summer Games. They don't have anything that's drawing in a younger viewership. To be honest, I think they need skateboarding more than we need them. Skateboarding's popularity is solidified for the most part in a lot of countries. - Tony Hawk
In ramp skating, there's this guy Alex Perelson who's really coming into his own and doing some amazing new stuff we haven't seen before. Just different types of spin. - Tony Hawk
Most snarky critics had their minds set before ever seeing/playing the game. I'm proud of what we created; it's innovative, responsive & fun. - Tony Hawk
My youngest son's pre-school class was recently asked what their dads do for work. The responses were things like, my dad sells money, and my dad figures stuff out. My son said, 'I've never seen my dad do work.' It's true. Skateboarding doesn't seem like real work, but I'm proud of what I do.
Skateistan's not just about skating. It’s giving people life skills and hope for the future. - Tony Hawk
Skating was popular, but it wasn't mainstream. It had this underground following, and you could go on tours, win decent prize money, and make royalties from signature products - that's how I came to buy a house when I was a senior in high school. - Tony Hawk
Some of the spins he has learned on his skateboard had never been done before, because we, as skaters, didn't have a frame of reference to try them for the first time. For instance, nobody had attempted a 1080 in skating until Shaun tried it last year. He wasn't scared because he's done it plenty of times in the snow. - Tony Hawk
That's awesome. Aside from being a really positive outlet for kids who are going to skate whether there's a park or not, it's a breeding ground. It helps our sport grow. - Tony Hawk
The biggest lesson I learned from my dad is to support children even if they're doing something that is unorthodox. - Tony Hawk
These sports are just -- you go do it, and you're doing it on your own. You don't have to answer to anyone. - Tony Hawk
When I started skating, it was such a small community. You didn't aspire to be rich or famous or make a career out of it because that wasn't something anyone had done yet. - Tony Hawk
When your daughter asks you to be a fairy for her 5th birthday party... you better be a damned fairy. - Tony Hawk
You might not make it to the top, but if you are doing what you love, there is much more happiness there than being rich or famous. - Tony Hawk
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