Joshua Bell Quotes

I left because I could no longer make records that sounded less and less like me. I tried to please people instead of believing in my own strength, until the only thing I could do was walk away.

When you're hiding behind a character all the time, as soon as you have to be yourself, you feel kind of terrified.

I think that more and more there's a sense that the best performances I can give are the ones that are the truest to who I am. The further I move away from who I am, the worse they are.

The challenge is how strange and different my voice sounds, so I have tried to sound like other people and tried to be something I wasn't. I have tried to be a soul singer because someone else thought that a good idea. Not because I did.

I was afraid to express myself for a while.

What's the greater risk? Letting go of what people think - or letting go of how I feel, what I believe, and who I am?

I've fallen victim to worrying about what everybody thinks. It's never going to be that everyone is happy. You just gotta know what you like and go with it.

I caved in to what people wanted me to do. I thought that they weren't going to like me if I didn't.

Seeking approval and people pleasing forces you to alter your actions and speech to no longer reflect what you actually think or feel.

A lot of artists are afraid to be themselves and afraid to tell people what it really is.

For such a long time in my life, I didn't trust my own voice at all. I always tried to do what other people wanted.

The minute you start caring about what other people think, is the minute you stop being yourself.

Although at the time I didn't realize what was happening, I was unable to make a decision that might displease those around me. For years, whatever directive I may have issued ended with the phrase, 'If it's all right with you.' If I thought I'd done anything to make someone unhappy, I'd agonize.

Sometimes when I go out on the road, I feel almost embarrassed or dismayed because I can't be the image of what kids want me to be. So I just try to be myself, and usually that works out OK.

I think I have come to a place where I'm able to feel more comfortable about being honest.

You can get totally messed up trying to please everyone with what you do, but ultimately, you have to please yourself.

I decided at 15 that I didn't want to be one of those artists that gets up and sings love songs they don't mean. I decided that I was going to be me to the fullest extent, that my songs were going to reflect relationships I've had, things I've been through, and even the stuff I'm embarrassed about.

It is so important to be really true to yourself in design, and I am.

When you were on stage, you could be absolutely open about your emotions and indulge them and express yourself in a way that - in real life - I wasn't doing.

With a fractured sense of self, we come to depend on what people feed back to us - often mediated through social networks - not what we are. We have complex identities but may become less able to act as a subject - confident in what we really are.

I had years of therapy to recover from this. A lot of it had to with being a people pleaser, being the ultimate good girl. I wanted everyone to like me. I didn't really have a voice. I was afraid of growing up.

I decided I was sick of trying to figure out what everybody else wanted, and I should just decide what I want, and be honest, and not spend all my time guessing.

Consider what people think of you, but don't be afraid of what people think of you.

While I was doing stand-up, I thought I knew for sure that success meant getting everyone to like me. So I became whoever I thought people wanted me to be. I'd say yes when I wanted to say no, and I even wore a few dresses.

Do not let yourself get in your own way. Don't judge yourself and knock yourself down. There is enough of that out there already. Remember: you are an artist, and you bring something special to this craft. Take in notes and criticism, but don't let them define you. Don't try to become a watered down version of yourself.