Mattered Quotations

Many books have mattered enormously to my life and work. 'David Copperfield' by Charles Dickens would be one of several contenders for 'most influential.' I first read it at 13 and have reread it dozens of times since.

I've always loved who I loved, and it never mattered to me where they were from. That's how it should be: wherever your heart tells you to go, you go.

Being funny has always mattered a lot to me. It's why I started acting - to make my friends laugh.

SEAL training was a great equalizer. Nothing mattered but your will to succeed. Not your color, not your ethnic background, not your education and not your social status.

I think President Obama wanted to have the right fit for his different cabinet positions, and I believe that experience is what mattered most to him. In my case, I have been working to improve the overall quality of life for working families for most of my adult life, and I think that experience resonated with the president.

I was so dedicated to generating income to keep my family housed and clothed and schooled. That mattered to me. And playing good golf mattered to me. The rest of the things, like how my record stacked up against others, never made that much difference.

The only thing I hope I did was never put in question my love for the game, or my passion to be counted on when it mattered most.

What I wanted was for everyone listening to understand that these things mattered - not necessarily for me, but in this particular forum they mattered in terms of whether of not we were getting a person who should sit on the Supreme Court.

I never stood for any president in my life, never voted, before Barack Obama. It changed my life to vote. It starts there with me. I never cared for politics before Barack Obama. I never thought it mattered to people like me.

It took me a while to learn that certain people may have important skills that are not always blazingly apparent. Gradually I came to realize - slow as I may have been - that what mattered was performance, that sometimes people might have to be helped to develop, and that it takes all kinds to make an organization run properly.

Earlier, looking lighter or slimmer never mattered to me. Frankly, I didn't care. I had more important things to do. But when I figured that it's not that hard, and I have the time, passion and patience to take it up, I jumped onto the health-wagon. I started working out.

I felt disconnected from the decisions made in Washington and, to be honest, really didn't think my vote mattered because I didn't have a direct line of sight from my vote to a result.

A British director directed 'American Beauty,' an important film about American life, and it didn't matter. What only mattered was everyone's sensibility.

On Madison Avenue, I was making more money than I ever had or ever would again, ... what mattered to me.

On Sept. 10 there was pain and suffering of a world manifested by power. There is nothing special about Sept. 11; there is nothing special about our pain in this country. It mattered no more or no less than the pain and suffering of the rest of the world that day. We cannot contribute to the lives lost by innocent civilians because of a corruption of power.

I was seventeen when my mother passed away, ... I was heartbroken. Nothing mattered to me anymore. I thought seriously about not finishing high school, even of dropping out of boxing. Not one day passes that I don't think about my mother. And to be honest, there are still times when it's a lonely world without her. But I feel that I was blessed to have her in my life, and I believe she's still looking out for me.

This was a good, good effort and really satisfying to score in all event areas. In the past, it has not mattered what we do during indoors, we always do better outdoors so we have the potential to win it all again and do something special this spring.

Fuzzy (Zoeller) tells me I should have played in the old days, with him and Tom Watson and Lee Trevino and those guys, ... They never worked out. All they cared about was winning, not the money. Trophies, that's all that has ever mattered to me, I never cared about the money.

I don't think it's ever mattered to Spencer whether he scores any points or not. He's just trying to do what the team needs him to do and he's always going to do exactly what the coach wants him to do.

What I'm proud about, 5-on-5, when it mattered most, they couldn't get anything going. They did not score one even-strength goal in (their) building and they were the best home team in the league. That has to be a real confidence boost for our team, especially our defense.

Her life mattered and he took it all away.

He rode his bike (to campus) every day. It never mattered what the weather was. He would only drive if the weather was really bad.

He wanted proof, daily, that he mattered most to me. All sense of reason disappeared and his tantrums were awesome; he would batter away at me verbally until I gave in. Then he was back to his usual self, apologetic and loving.

Just stepping to the plate, just understanding it's you vs. him, that's all that really mattered at that point.

My putting was horrible but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. I might have finished second to Phil, that's all.

Like many of the ideas that mattered in the American Revolution, extraterrestrials got their start in antiquity. The Greek philosopher Epicurus speculated that the universe must be infinite, eternal and abounding in 'worlds' just like our own.

Pitching was our strength. We had two 12-year-olds (Kyle Hughes and Ryan McCarthy) who were just dominant. Pitching and defense is what carried us in the playoffs, and the kids played their best when it mattered most.

It hurts to lose. We played well all year and when it really mattered we didn't. All we can do is regroup and try to come out and get one more win.

I thought what a terrible thing I had done; not the political aspect of it because maybe that was correct but it didn't matter now. Correct or not, all that mattered was the human side of things. I felt no political cause was worth hurting another human being for.

You know what, that was a pretty good deal, the whole thing, ... During the race, I didn't even think about it. It wouldn't have mattered if it was Jeff Gordon or Michael Schumacher, I was going to drive as hard as I could.

Voting is the language of our democracy, ... And, regrettably, when it mattered most on Election Day, real people lost real opportunities to speak truth to power at the ballot box. This must never occur again if we can do anything to stop it.

I was over-confident while growing up. I think when you look a certain way, you try and compensate by something else. I was always a strong child, was always confident, but looks never mattered to me.

We haven't won back-to-back games in two years. For the most part, we haven't played a game that mattered in two years.

Michael still agreed to be in it as long as he could wear a black suit-that's all that mattered to him. It was very funny and entirely Michael's idea.

Whether it's Gov. Edgar or somebody else, it's never mattered to me, ... If I make a decision to run for governor, I'm going to run for the office of governor.

Who cared if there was really any Being to pray to? What mattered was the sense of giving thanks and praise, the feeling of a humble and grateful heart.

We finally beat them when it mattered the most. Our defensive effort, we did a much better job in transition defense.

was instrumental in my pursuing something that really mattered to me.

We played well when it mattered and pulled it out, and that's all that mattered.

We played well as group; defensively, to hold them to three points when it mattered - and they have some weapons in that spread offense - thought we defended it real well.

The points mattered more than anything tonight. The results in the other games went our way, and now we can travel to Belarus knowing that we are in the play-offs. I hope our luck continues.

We didn't start thinking about this game until about a week ago. Coming to White Plains, we're ready to play. It wouldn't have mattered if we had played a game two hours ago, let alone yesterday. I thought our energy was good today.

We called a timeout (trailing 71-65 with 1:45 to go) and coach (Charles) Walker had the words that mattered the most. He just said, 'Ball pressure. Put pressure on the ball.' And that's what we did.

This will sound a little strange, but we did not play good basketball tonight. I'm sure that the outside observer will say they really played tough against a top-ranked team on the road and blah, blah, blah. We turned it over 20 times. We were not able to keep people off the glass when it mattered most. And we shot like a junior high team from the free throw line.

Bert was dominant especially early on when it mattered most. You could tell it was an inspired effort.

Everybody is beside themselves, they just can't believe it. I know the only thing that mattered to him are his children. I've been crying since 3:30 this morning. It's unreal. I thought he was going to walk into the house. It doesn't seem real. It doesn't seem real to nobody.

At the beginning of the year, she was a little slow and wasn't getting enough shots. Toward the end, she really improved, and she really stepped up when it mattered and counted the most.

It wouldn't have mattered if they only had five guys to play with. Sometimes when a great player is not in the lineup, that's when a team is most dangerous because you play together and you play loose. That was in our mind before the game, and our goal was to jump on them early.

It was the saving of the project that we managed to get buy-in from all the managers that mattered right at the beginning. They were on the project team and they were part of it -- it wasn't being done to them.

Victory was important but it wouldn't have mattered if we had lost today because we went out there and played, and played well.

The things that could have mattered to us, like the war on poverty, he didn't touch on,

Fads end eventually and value suddenly mattered again. The bank group outperformed the broad market in third, fourth and first quarter of this year.

Scoring all of those points doesn't matter. All that mattered to me was winning the game. Our guards set me up all night and kept getting me in position to score.

All Americans have benefited from the dedicated service of Representative Henry Waxman. In every battle and in every moment that mattered most, Rep. Waxman stood up for the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the wild places we cherish.

They put us in a whole bunch of tough spots. We had to react both physically and mentally. We had to somehow stop them when it mattered the most.

Our decision to close on Sunday was our way of honoring God and of directing our attention to things that mattered more than our business.

In her quiet way, Mary English mattered a lot.

I knew before the game that Will was going to come out and play that way. She felt as though she hadn't let herself loose over the last couple of games in the tournament. She said she was just going to play carefree and play like nothing else mattered but winning.

Aaron got him when it mattered the most.

It's tough when you don't play and then it's time to get back in the swing of things. We won 15 games last year and the starters didn't play much at end. That was tough to get back into the flow. We've had four or five games this year that mattered down the stretch, which is why we're playing well.

It seemed like he was a normal person, he was a down-to-earth person. I don't think it mattered who it was, he could have a casual conversation with just about anybody.

They can come and compete at the Quad-A level. It's wide-open this year, and they'd be one of the teams in the mix in Quad A. They put together a drive when it mattered and punched it in. They're a great team. They're well-coached. And Nix is a great player. He brings it on every snap.

In this league, you have to bring it every night. You have to give some credit to Seaside. They came up big when it mattered most.

I love that I've been part of the growth, and I know it was a small part, but every bit mattered in our sport. I love the game.

It was a furious race. Everyone was just flat out. It was one of the most furious races I've ever been in. The track didn't have much grip after it rained (earlier in the day). The car was just perfect on the turns that really mattered for passing, and that's what told the story.

It was a great game on both sides. Everybody stepped up and played when they had to play. All that mattered was a 'W'. We never gave up.

I remember going to see Billy Graham in a cinema in Glasgow, and he was down in London. I used to go and hear preachers, and then we always went to church and Sunday school. That mattered a lot to me.

All I saw was an opportunity to try to pass him but it was the white-flag lap and if I had passed him it wouldn't have mattered because of the caution freezing the field,

Everyone in the United States asks me about being a woman CEO. To be honest, it has had no impact on my career. While I was at BCG, it didn't matter whether you were a man or a woman. The only thing that mattered was that you were good at your job.

As a team we just weren't good enough defensively and our deficiencies came to the forefront when it mattered most.

It wasn't so much that it was a I-AA team, or it was Southeastern Louisiana -- none of that matters. What mattered was -- man-on-man -- we didn't get it done. We lost. And our kids up front have a lot of pride. And they were embarrassed about it.

I told him the only people whose opinion mattered were the 10 people on the selection committee.

It was the key play. She got the one that mattered the most.

It was a recession when I graduated, but I was so unequipped to have a job anyway, I don't think it would have mattered if the economy was booming. I think I was expecting bad jobs. But as it went on through my 20s, I began to wonder how things were going to turn out.

It's a great honor. We've been doing similar things over the last nine years, especially defensively. This was the first team to make all the baskets when the game mattered most.

Throughout the years the lineup has evolved but it always comes down to Mac and me. We both decided in our senior year to make music that mattered and helped people, rather than bring them down.

He began his final short journey to the only judgment that mattered to him and for which he lived his entire extraordinary life.

And if it all falls apart, I will know deep in my heart, the only dream that mattered had come true. In this life, I was loved by you.