Mya Quotes

I have a great deal of joy in my life, and I'm very fortunate. That combination makes you aware of just how wonderful life can be on the one hand and how dreadful it can be for people on the other. You can't be happy in isolation.

A lot of people have it a lot worse than you do.

My stance has always been that my issue compared to everything else going on in the world is really, really small. Once you realize that, you can get a lot more out of being a part of the solution.

But one of the best things away from playing was a visit to a Mumbai slum. You see people in their conditions, getting stuck into their way of life and not moaning, and realise how lucky you are to be doing what you are doing. It put things into perspective.

I cried because I had no shoes. Then I met a man who had no feet.

I had the blues because I had no shoes until upon the street, I met a man who had no feet.

See how many are better off than you are, but consider how many are worse.

This is what I tell my students: step outside of your tiny little world. Step inside of the tiny little world of somebody else. And then do it again and do it again and do it again. And suddenly, all these tiny little worlds, they come together in this complex web. And they build a big, complex world.

Nobody's life is a bed of roses. We all have crosses to bear, and we all just do our best. I would never claim to have the worst situation. There are many widows, and many people dying of AIDS, many people killed in Lebanon, people starving all over the planet. So we have to count our lucky stars.

But when I really look back on my life, being really honest about it and now that I've got the chance to travel the world, seeing how a lot of little kids grow up - my life wasn't so bad.

We all get so caught up in our day-to-day lives and have so many gripes. But when you see the way others live and how they make the best of it, you'll realize how lucky you are.

I think of myself as quite a confused kind of person, because I think there's so many great things about the world, but there are so many awful things too. I feel very guilty a lot of the time about enjoying my life so much when there are people living in such misery.

The most important thing that I learned in growing up is that forgiveness is something that, when you do it, you free yourself to move on.

I feel very lucky because of my parents and then my education, the opportunities that I've had, so I would like to continue working to improve lives for others.

I don't think anyone, no matter what, can find perfect happiness until they understand exactly who they are and how every little thing they do can affect the world around them. I think perfect happiness would be a world where everyone is constantly striving to understand everyone else.

My mom, ever since we were little girls, has really always rallied us together - my sister, our friends - to instill in us the fact that other people don't have what we have, so we have to be really thankful for things.

It's very easy, when we're reading those articles on the 20th page of 'The New York Times,' to distance ourselves and say, 'It's someone else.'

A lot of people are in much tougher situations than me and I am very fortunate to be where I am, so I try to remember that and stay humble whenever things feel tough.

The more I speak and travel, I realize I don't have it that bad. There are so many people that have it so much worse than I do.

I wish that everyone that's complaining about how things are here would shut their mouth for a little bit, go around the world and see how it is everywhere else.

She could not complain about not having shoes when the person she was talking to had no legs.

Could a greater miracle take place than for us to look through each other's eyes for an instant?

Were one merely to seek information, one should inquire of the man who hates, but if one wishes to know what truly is, one better ask the one who loves.

Humility is truth.

Sometimes when you're relegated to your neighborhood, you forget that there's more important things than your neighborhood going on out in the world.