“People throw stones at you and you convert them into milestones.” — Sachin Tendulkar
At its core, LiveMint’s quote of the day by is about transmuting external negativity into internal fuel.
The legendary cricketer redefined how we should view criticism, setbacks, and doubt — Instead of letting the “stones” thrown by critics injure your confidence or stop your momentum, you gather them up and use them as the very building blocks to construct your success.
What does the quote mean?
Sachin Tendulkar’s quote is a philosophy of extreme resilience—shifting from being a passive victim of circumstances to an active architect of your own legacy.
When Sachin used this metaphor, he wasn’t speaking theoretically. He was looking back at a 19-year career where he had been heavily scrutinised by a cricket-obsessed nation of over a billion people.
His breakdown of handling pressure reveals two distinct choices:
- Stone (Input): The stones represent everything outside your control that is meant to disrupt you—harsh criticism, public scepticism, unfair comparisons, unexpected injuries, or sudden failures.
- Conversion (Process): This is where the magic happens. You don’t throw the stones back; that wastes time and energy. Instead, you internalise the energy of that doubt, quietly analyse what is happening, and use it to sharpen your focus.
- Milestone (Output): The milestone is the ultimate answer. You don’t argue with critics using words; you answer them with undeniable, concrete results. The very people who threw the stones are forced to watch you stand on top of them.
How is it relevant today?
In today’s hyper-connected, high-stakes world, “stones” are thrown faster and more publicly than ever before. Whether you are building a career in a demanding industry or preparing for intense competitive challenges, this mindset is essential for survival.
We live in a culture of instant commentary. If you are a digital creator, a journalist, or a corporate leader, your work is audited, judged, and critiqued in real-time by metrics, managers, and online audiences.
If you have thin skin, a single bad piece of feedback, a dropping traffic metric, or a critical comment can trigger an existential crisis. You end up playing “defensive” football, trying to avoid making mistakes rather than trying to achieve excellence.
However, according to Tendulkar, you have to filter the noise. You look at criticism not as an attack on your worth, but as raw data. If the criticism has merit, you use it to upgrade your skills. If it’s just noise, you let it slide off and use the scepticism to fuel an even sharper, higher-quality output next time. You let your next big win do the talking.
When did Sachin Tendulkar say this?
Sachin Tendulkar originally said this on 17 October 2008 in .
During the second Test match against Australia, Tendulkar surpassed West Indian legend to become the highest run-getter in Test match cricket history.
He needed 15 runs that day to break the record of 11,953 runs. When he reached the milestone, the match was paused as fireworks went off and the Australian team gave him a guard of honour.
During the post-match press conference, while reflecting on his 19-year career up to that point, he took a subtle but firm swipe at critics who had been clamouring for his retirement during his injury-induced slumps in the mid-2000s: “People sometimes throw stones, and you convert them into milestones.”
The line became so iconic that he later included it in his 2014 autobiography, Playing It My Way, which is why many internet sources date it to 2014. However, the true, raw context of the quote belongs to one of the most historic days in cricket history.
Other quotes by Sachin Tendulkar
- “Success is a process… We don’t want to jump to the 50th floor straight away. We must start on the ground floor.”
- “I believe in controlling the controllable elements. Something where we don’t have control on certain things, those things you obviously cannot waste your energy in trying to figure out… You would much rather focus all your energy on the things that you can control.”
- “Chase your dreams, but make sure you don’t find shortcuts.”
