Madeline Zima Quotes

You learn so much from competition you gain confidence every time you have to step up and perform.

I think I was, like, maybe frustrated for many years because I didn't try to direct. And since I made my movie I'm just like, 'It's great.'

All you wanna do in life is do what you do well. That's when you're happiest.

I wanted to get out in the world, have a great job, make my mark, and see how far I could go. And I wanted to make good on the philosophy my mother drilled into us with all the subtlety of a Lady Gaga performance. I got it loud and clear. I would need to succeed, and then I could possibly be happy.

I'd like to think I could do something great - a performance like Meryl Streep's in 'Sophie's Choice' - at some point in my life. At the same time, though, I don't want to put too much pressure on myself to be great.

Fear of failure has always been my best motivator.

I knew I had to show everybody that I could excel at something. But I didn't know what.

Any time you feel like you're not playing up to your potential, I think that drives you.

I've learnt I can compete with the best in the world.

Yes, sharing super-personal experiences is scary, but I can only get up on stage and perform it if I really connect with the music.

The creative process has been a little bit of an experience, really - to try and make that work for me. The only way I know how to do that is just to remain genuine, humble, and true to everything I know already in my life.

I knew myself. I knew where I wanted to go in life. I wanted to be the very best I could be in whatever I pursued.

There's always people that say stuff about you. I just want to go out there and prove them wrong, and that's what motivates you.

When I was 14 and went on the stage for the first time, it stimulated me so much that I was convinced that I didn't want to do anything else.

I've got a chip on my shoulder, and honestly, I've always had it, but I don't think about it in those terms, like I'm trying to be better than this guy or that guy. It just helps keep me focused.

I'm always trying to prove to my 17-year-old self that I can do creative things I thought weren't possible.

I will continue as long as I know I have the potential to be the best.

I'm not somebody that's been a natural at anything.

I'm a believer that you're as good as your best game because that's the level that you can get to.

Sometimes I wake up, and I'm like, 'Don't dream it. Be it. You're really living the dream. You are everything you've ever desired or set out to be. You're doing it.'

If you score runs against an international attack, the self-belief automatically increases.

I haven't done any of the things I have done to inspire others, but I am sure that if I am watching my story from the outside I would be joining the club saying, 'Wow, that guy really gets you going.'

We feel pressure from every angle to meet expectations, but the pressure also pushes us in a positive was as well.

Between what I know I can do and want to achieve and what the audience expects, it's a lot of pressure, and it's always adding up.

I just want to keep working hard. I just want to keep improving myself. And I just want to prove people that I can play in the real game.