Dia Mirza Quotes

I think what I would say to my younger self, and probably to younger, just starting-out writers is that a lot of times you're just afraid to put yourself out there, and it's uncomfortable because it's working up the courage to do something, to push yourself to do those things.

By middle school, I said to myself that it's time I begin to speak. I joined the choir, not because I wanted to. I forced myself.

I am so not a pageant girl, but I signed up for the Miss Junior Florida contest because I thought it would be good experience.

I try to be unafraid of making a fool of myself.

I was never pushed into the industry. I was a very shy child. I was not one to perform for friends and family at every get-together.

I used to be very shy. When I first started, I had to go to a casting, and I had to go in a bikini. I thought I was too skinny. But I went in and got the job! And that's how I started.

I didn't start drama school until I was 20, and I don't think I would have gotten nearly as much out of it had I gone when I was 18. I didn't show up there to please anyone. After I was accepted, I wrote, 'The Audition's Over' and put it on the door of my dorm.

There was kind of a pivotal moment in my life in junior high school when my English teacher told me I should be a part of the public speaking competition.

I entered the Miss Nigeria in America pageant - yes, it's a thing that existed. This was when I was getting my masters.

My friend was interning at the Miss India office and asked me to go for an audition. I just wanted to clear one basic round to show it to my friends. 'I'm in this mind space, and I can do this, losers.' I cleared the first round, and then I wanted to do more.

A journalist in Toronto named Shannon Boodram saw my Facebook page and told me I was 'strikingly beautiful.' She shot a YouTube video of me, and it made a hit, grabbing thousands of views. She said the camera loved me and that I should be a model. I had never thought about modeling - it just hadn't seemed possible.

I don't think I would ever have taken on professional acting roles if I hadn't had the ability to fly. I had quite low self-esteem, and it gave me the self-confidence to believe I could do anything that I put my mind to.

Something I would have never thought that I could have done before is dancing in front of thousands of people. It changed how people view me in a negative and a positive way.

My parents never pushed me to be an actress. You can come from a family of actors, and sometimes there have been families that grow you up as an actor, but this wasn't my situation. It's very important to find your own way because it's something you then have to confront yourself.

I have so much more to go through as a young lady. But oh my God. I feel like I can do anything.

I believed my story would be helpful to young women my daughter's age, who are still in the process of forming themselves as women, and in need of encouragement to remain true to themselves.

I was very, very shy as a younger girl, just petrified of people. Tennis helped give me an identity and made me feel like somebody.

I never knew how to do anything before I did it, really.

Pageants were an amazing platform that gave a little girl like me from the mountains of my beautiful Puerto Rico a chance to travel, explore the world, meet amazing people, work for great charities and be a voice to empower women wherever I went. For all those things, I am grateful.

I didn't know if I had the music for it or if I could pull off the larger concert experience. Then I realized if I can just continue to be myself, I'll be all right.

Women who have strong identities, who know themselves, really inspire me.

I was always much more shy. All I knew was that I loved to act. But I don't know about the other part of it. I'm not sure I had the chutzpah to go and prove yourself.

By the second time I sang by myself in school, I just realized that I was more in control of my environment than I had ever been before.

I've been very much intrigued by and impressed with women. But I've never been intimidated. Even if I make a fool of myself, it's better to have tried.

I was very innocent and shielded as a child, so I didn't know a lot about music or dancing. When I was in Primary Six, no one would participate in a talent show, so I decided to go on. When the audience applauded me, I felt euphoric, and I started dancing right after that!