"Genius...? Don't say that... I'm no genius. I'm a normal person, just like anyone else. I'm from a middle-class family, you know? Actually, they're not even middle-class... That's why I have to push so hard! I have to knock down that wall! It's not geniuses that change the world. It's ordinary people who make every effort they can. And to prove that, I have to keep on making effort after effort after effort! So don't call me a genius! Don't lump me in with those lazy clods who don't put in any effort! But I only said all that because you and me are the same. You and me, we're just normal people. We know what it means to have to make an effort. That's why I want you to know exactly how I feel..." 

"And  that's why I'm so passionate about my work on morals committee. I want to create an environment where everyone has the opportunity to give it everything they've got. That's why I put all my blood, sweat, and tears into creating that kind of environment. I want everyone else to understand that, too. In the end, you can't succeed if you don't try."

"Anyone who says differently is selling something. Effort is everything! That's the only way to fix anything in this world! And I have to prove that to all the ordinary people out there so they'll keep on trying! I have to become the ordinary man who can surpass any genius! Those are the feelings I carried with me when I entered Hope's Peak Academy... But now that I'm trapped here, I've been robbed of the opportunity to make that effort... So now what am I supposed to do..."