"...His message, he said, is to "never give up on life."
"It's an imperfect world, but, boy, it's still beautiful."
"What is life?" he said. "It's 20 percent what happens to you and 80 percent how you react to it."
"Find that little kernel every day that brings you pleasure and joy -- and fasten onto that. That's what's going to make life worth living. Always look for the best."
"People won't remember who you are or what you said," he said. "It's really about: Are you going to be remembered as a good person? That's victory to me. That's success." - Nick Charles
Nick Charles, who started off as a taxi driver and later became the first sports anchor at CNN, died Saturday after battling bladder cancer since 2009. He was 64.
The son of a taxi driver who was mostly absent from his life, Nicholas Charles Nickeas grew up poor in inner-city Chicago. In grade school, during the frigid winters when his dad didn't pay the heat bills, Charles would curl up in bed with his mother and brother to stay warm.
He struggled in high school. He had no mentors. He was too busy working late-night jobs at produce docks in desolate Chicago neighborhoods. Once, his boss pointed to mounds of rat feces, threw lye all over the floor and handed the 17-year-old Charles a pair of gloves, rubber boots and a hoe.
He struggled in high school. He had no mentors. He was too busy working late-night jobs at produce docks in desolate Chicago neighborhoods. Once, his boss pointed to mounds of rat feces, threw lye all over the floor and handed the 17-year-old Charles a pair of gloves, rubber boots and a hoe.
He scrubbed away, but thought to himself: "I'll never be trapped again in life. Never. Never."
"That was a watershed, life-changing moment for me. It really drove me to the point where I had focus in my life."
Source: CNN
"That was a watershed, life-changing moment for me. It really drove me to the point where I had focus in my life."
Source: CNN
