"I think I was born strong-willed. That's not the kind of thing you can learn. The advantage is, you stick to what you believe in and rarely get pushed out of what you want to do"
About this Quote
Joan Jett’s “born strong-willed” line isn’t a humblebrag; it’s a strategic claim of origin that doubles as a defense. In rock, especially the version women were allowed to occupy in the ’70s and ’80s, authority was constantly treated as borrowed: you could be “talented,” sure, but you weren’t supposed to be immovable. By framing willpower as innate, Jett refuses the idea that grit is something gatekeepers can grant, teach, or revoke. It’s a way of saying: don’t ask who trained me to take up space. I arrived like this.
The subtext is less self-mythology than boundary-setting. “That’s not the kind of thing you can learn” draws a hard line between skill and stance. You can teach a riff; you can’t coach refusal. It also quietly rejects the makeover logic of the industry: be more palatable, soften the edges, let the room “shape” you. Jett’s persona has always worked because it’s legible - leather, hooks, a voice that doesn’t flinch - and this quote explains the engine behind that consistency.
Then she calls it an “advantage,” a telling word from someone who’s watched conviction treated like a liability. The payoff is practical, not inspirational: you don’t get “pushed out” of what you want to do. That’s career advice disguised as temperament - not about winning arguments, but about outlasting pressure. In a business that runs on leverage, strong-willed becomes a survival strategy.
The subtext is less self-mythology than boundary-setting. “That’s not the kind of thing you can learn” draws a hard line between skill and stance. You can teach a riff; you can’t coach refusal. It also quietly rejects the makeover logic of the industry: be more palatable, soften the edges, let the room “shape” you. Jett’s persona has always worked because it’s legible - leather, hooks, a voice that doesn’t flinch - and this quote explains the engine behind that consistency.
Then she calls it an “advantage,” a telling word from someone who’s watched conviction treated like a liability. The payoff is practical, not inspirational: you don’t get “pushed out” of what you want to do. That’s career advice disguised as temperament - not about winning arguments, but about outlasting pressure. In a business that runs on leverage, strong-willed becomes a survival strategy.
Quote Details
| Topic | Self-Discipline |
|---|
More Quotes by Joan
Add to List







