Quote of the day by Sachin Tendulkar: "People throw stones at you; convert them..."

“People throw stones at you and you turn them into milestones.” — Sachin Tendulkar

At its core, Sachin Tendulkar’s LiveMint quote of the day is about turning external negativity into internal fuel.

The legendary cricketer redefined how we should look at criticism, failure and doubt – instead of letting the ‘stones’ thrown by critics hurt your confidence or stop your momentum, you collect them and use them as the very building blocks to build your success.

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What does the quote mean?

Sachin Tendulkar’s quote is a philosophy of extreme resilience – of moving from being a passive victim of circumstance to being an active architect of your own legacy.

When Sachin used this metaphor, he wasn’t talking theoretically. He looked back on a 19-year career in which he was heavily scrutinized by a cricket-obsessed nation of more than a billion people.

His distribution of handling pressure reveals two distinct possibilities:

stone (input): The stones represent anything outside of your control that is meant to disturb you – harsh criticism, public skepticism, unfair comparisons, unexpected injuries or sudden failures.
conversion (process): This is where the magic happens. You don’t throw stones back; which wastes time and energy. Instead, you internalize the energy of that doubt, quietly analyze what’s going on, and use it to sharpen your focus.
Milestone (output): Milestone is the final answer. You don’t argue with critics with 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.

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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’re building a career in a challenging industry or preparing for intense competitive challenges, this mindset is essential for survival.

We live in a culture of instant commentary. If you’re a digital creator, journalist, or company leader, your work is reviewed, judged, and critiqued in real time by metrics, managers, and online audiences.

If you’re thin-skinned, a single bad feedback, declining traffic metric, or critical comment can trigger an existential crisis. You end up playing “defensive” football and trying to avoid mistakes instead of trying to achieve perfection.

However, according to Tendulkar, you have to filter the noise. You don’t look at criticism as an attack on your value, but as raw data. If the criticism has value, you will use it to improve your skills. If it’s just noise, you let it slide and use the skepticism to reinforce an even sharper, better output next time. You let your next big win do the talking.

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When did Sachin Tendulkar say this?

Sachin Tendulkar originally said this on 17 October 2008 in Mohali.

During the second Test match against Australia, Tendulkar surpassed West Indian legend Brian Lara to become the highest wicket-taker in Test match history.

He needed 15 runs that day to break the record of 11,953 runs. When he reached the milestone, the match was interrupted as he set off fireworks and was given a guard of honor by the Australian team.

During his post-match press conference, reflecting on his 19-year career so far, he subtly but pointedly brushed aside critics who clamored for his retirement during his injury-induced slump in the mid-2000s: “Sometimes people throw rocks and you turn 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 online sources date it to 2014. However, the real, raw context of the quote is one of the most historic days in cricket history.

More Sachin Tendulkar Quotes

“Success is a process… We don’t want to jump to the 50th floor right away. We have to start on the ground floor.”
“I believe in controlling controllables. Something where we don’t have control over certain things, those things that you obviously can’t waste energy trying to figure out… You’d much rather focus all your energy on things that you can control.”
“Follow your dreams, but make sure you don’t take shortcuts.”