Trejo: My Life of Crime, Redemption, and Hollywood

by Danny Trejo

I wasn’t scared of being busted, I wasn’t scared of being locked up, and when a kid loses fear of consequences, that’s when society has lost them.

“If you’re going to pray, why worry? And if you’re going to worry, why pray?”

Faith shoves fear out of the room. There’s no room for fear if you fill your soul with faith.

I thought about what an outside speaker had said at a meeting: “Have a good day, which becomes a great month, which becomes a great year, which becomes a great life.”

I have a friend named Chris Davis who says, “Have a nice day. That is, of course, unless you’ve already gone ahead and made other plans.” It cracks me up every time because it’s so true.

Sam said, “Dan, don’t take everything on your shoulders. The ocean, other people’s behavior, they do what they are going to do. Since you can’t control that, don’t be distressed about it.”

I’ve said many times: everything good that’s ever happened in my life has come as the direct result of helping someone else and not expecting anything in return.

From infancy on we develop the masks we wear to get by, pretending we’re not scared or hurt, that things are alright.

The magic of forgiveness is so profound, and it starts with us forgiving ourselves.

“If you’re going to pray, why worry? And if you’re going to worry, why pray?”