Sylvester Stallone: Our life is a constant battle.
Sylvester Stallone: I truly believe, you know, it's not how hard you can hit it's how hard
you can get hit and keep moving forward because that's really what does make the difference
in your life.
Sylvester Stallone: It's all about dreams, you know. And by the way, dreams cost nothing.
They're free. The hard part is just keeping them going and please keep them going because
we're here for one simple reason. He believed in the dream I believed in a dream and our
dreams come true and there's no reason every one of yours can't either.
Sylvester Stallone: I used to sit in this little apartment in that I was a room, as
a matter of fact, it was so small I remember I was able to open up the window and close
the door while sitting on the bed at the same time. It was like eight feet by eight feet
by nine feet and but the one thing about that room, there was really very little distraction.
So I would sit there propped up in bed and I go out with my big pen and a legal pad and
just start writing these stories. And most of them were very very trivial but there was
something about the process of unrealized dreams. I
was always brought back to this subject because I think it's one of the most enduring subjects
and one of the most difficult passages for people to accept that they never were realized
in their own lifetime. That they just didn't get that shot.
Sylvester Stallone: I decided it was a time to come to California. So I went to California
and I moved to the Valley and things weren't going very well there. As a matter of fact,
I had to come and try to sell my dog because it was either do that or he just was not gonna
be very well fed. And then one night I went to see Muhammad Ali a fight.
Sylvester Stallone: For one brief moment this supposed stumblebum turned out to be magnificent.
And the fact that he lasted and knocked the champion down. I said boy, this is a metaphor
for life. His entire life crystallized at that moment. He will be remembered for all
eternity, at least among the fight fans. He did something extraordinary. No that, that
is probably what I need as a catalyst for an idea. A man who's going to stand up to
life and take one shot and maybe go the distance. So I started to write and it was one of those
writing frenzies and three days later I came up with the script of Rocky. Now the script,
by no means, was a finished piece of material. It was probably about 90 pages and maybe 10%
of it remained in the final script, but it was done.
Sylvester Stallone: I First met Bob and Irwin Winkler and I believe I was there on a casting
call. So we're talking a little bit and I guess I really wasn't right for the acting
part. On the way out I said, “I don't know if it matters but I do a little bit of writing.”
He says “really?” I say “yeah, I'm writing this story. So I have this thing about wrestlers
and I might do some of the boxing while.” He said, “well bring it around.” And I
thought if I hadn't stopped on the way out, that's why I tell all actors or writers, don't
give up, keep talking, eventually, you might hit a nerve somewhere, they go ah, come on
back. And if they didn't say come on back or bring it later and let's see what you've
developed I wouldn't be sitting here. So I have to give incredible credit to their insight
and their patience and they're willing to take a chance which,
It doesn't exist much anymore, unfortunately.
Sylvester Stallone: Originally when I brought the script to them they were fairly enthusiastic
about it. The one thing they were not enthusiastic about was me playing the part and I really
can't blame them at the time.
Sylvester Stallone: But there was something inside of me that, you know, this opportunity
is never gonna come around. And I really wasn't used to money and I had no idea of what I
would be missing but the temptation started to come forward. First, it was 25 grand and
$100,000. I never heard of 100 thousand because I had had like a hundred six dollars the banking.
Like I said, I had to sell my dog and things were not looking very very good. My $40 car
had just blown up. So I was taking a bus to work and was still it didn't matter. I wanted
to stick with it. Then it went up to 150 thousand, 175 thousand. It went up to 250,000. Now my
head was starting to spin and it went up to three hundred and thirty thousand. And probably,
I heard it was three hundred sixty thousand. And I thought all right, you know, you've
really managed poverty very well. You've got this down to a science. You really don't need
much to live on. I had like sort of figured it out. So I was not in no way used to the
good life. So I thought, you know what? If I know in the back of my mind, if I sell the
script and it does very very well, I'm gonna jump off the pole, and if I'm not it.
Sylvester Stallone: So this is one of those things where you just roll the dice and you
fly by the proverbial seat of your pants. I gotta try it. I gotta just do it. I may
be totally wrong and I'm gonna be taking a lot of people down with me, but I just believe
in it.
Sylvester Stallone: We were working with the handheld camera at the time was Garrett Brown
and it was somewhat experimental and he'd film me running through shopping balls and
up down and steps and flights. I mean, curved corridors along the river until finally my
legs basically gave out and I'm like writhing on the ground and I want to rise up and say
“John, I'm dying here.” And he goes “no, no. Use it. Use the pain. I said “For what?
I mean I'm in misery because…” “Well no, no,
you know, it's giving your character, it's giving him some depth.” I said “is giving
me bruises, is giving me like, agony. I can't sleep at night.”But, you know, John would
use, one thing about John he would use the environment. If he saw like the scene where
we just jumped down and saw this ship along the dock. This dock along the pier. It just
jump out, run as faster you can, launch this ship. And I'm running and running I said,
you know what? My legs are buckling. I'm literally gonna crash down here. Teeth are gonna go,
jaw, face. I'm just gonna be ground down to this flat-faced image, please. I just barely
made it.
Sylvester Stallone: You can't be alone, to really succeed. No man really is an island.
Sylvester Stallone: When you find the right components in your life, the right people
that gel with you, then you feel as though you're invincible. It may be a fallacy but
you at least feel as though you can take all that life has to dish out.
Sylvester Stallone: At the very end of our lives if we can still say, you know, we were
never humbled. We were knocked down but we got up and I can say I lived life with integrity
and I took all the blows, as the song says, and I still prevailed I think that's it. That's
a good epitaph for anyone.
Voice over: Maybe you came from nothing.
Maybe you don’t have anything.
But that is no excuse. You can still make it.
Many people beat the odds before you.
Many people decided to fight for their dreams even when they had everything against them.
Many people have given everything they got and received even more in return.
Now is your time.
Your time to take matters into your own hands.
The world is full of inspiration. Full of success stories. Pay attention and use them
as motivation. As fuel for your creations.
Look deep within yourself in the moments of solitude. Most of the great works of humanity,
from paintings to inventions came to be during solitude.
When you take time to think, ideas come to you. The possibilities open up before your
eyes and you become capable of spreading your message.
But that is just the beginning.
You have to fight for your ideas. Fight for your dreams. Fight for your life.
You have to insist to show the world what you are really worth.
People will doubt you. They will tell you no right to your face. They will say you’ll
never make it.
But you must persist.
You must keep seeking the opportunity because one day the doors will open up for you.
When we give up, we lose the future that could be.
Don’t give up!
Be true to your ideas.
Be true to who you are.
Because that is how you will leave your mark on the world.
When everyone else is trying to comply, you will stand out because you stood for yourself.
You can make anything happen.
Remember, you have the power to change the world. But if you surround yourself with the
right people, the people that push you, the journey will be much better.
And you’ll be greater for it.
The important thing is that you face every challenge head-on.
And that you get up every time you are knocked down.
Winning is not about never losing!
But about trying to overcome each and every obstacle when all seems lost!
Remember that!
Remember to get up!
That’s how winning is done!