Quote

I feel I have been protected all my life. I am still here, for God's sake, and a lot of my contemporaries have gone. I'm very fortunate. No matter the difficulties - and we all have difficulties - I am definitely one of the fortunate ones. If I have any really good characteristics, one is that I am resilient.

I went through a lot in my life that scarred me pretty good. I built a wall around myself to the point where nobody knew what was really going on inside of me, including myself.

The thing that you think is imperfect about you is the thing that makes you who you are. It separates you from everybody else. I have a scar on my lip, and for years I hated it. But now its become my thing. It's like, without it, I'm not me. You can't be perfect, so enjoy your imperfections. I can't stress that enough.

I am fortunate in having people around me who protect me.

Hiding, secrets, and not being able to be yourself is one of the worst things ever for a person. It gives you low self-esteem. You never get to reach that peak in your life. You should always be able to be yourself and be proud of yourself.

I'm trying to get a thicker skin. I like to be aware of people's perceptions of me, but when you put it as a priority, as a means to judging your worth, that's when it can be dangerous.

I spent a lot of time protecting myself. I mean, I've met a lot of extraordinary people over the years - and I just wish I had been able to open myself up to them more.

There's so many parts of my life that I've struggled with - that so many millions of others struggled with - about being an outsider, about feeling ugly, about having to overcome looking different to other people.

I think I'm actually more vulnerable than people imagine.

Being yourself is one of the hardest things because it's scary. You always wonder whether you'll be accepted for who you really are. I decided to call my record 'Inside Out' because that's my motto about life. I don't think you ever succeed at trying to be anyone else but who you truly are.