I was 17 when I moved to NYC . I'm now 32. But I do know I can't see myself living anywhere else. I love the food, the fashion, art, the intelligence of this city and the people that live in it.

Success is not easy and I think everyone should know that hard work and perseverance and being open to giving back are so much more powerful than stepping all over people to get to the top.

You can do anything you want, even if you are being told negative things.stay strong and find motivation.

The best piece of advice that I remember probably on a daily basis is to accept everything about me that is different. That is what makes me special.

You can dream big and it doesn't matter what you look like, where you come from.

My body is very different from most of the dancers I dance with. My hair is different than most I dance with. But I didn't let that stop me. Black girls rock and can be ballerinas.

The path to your success is not as fixed and inflexible as you think.

You're always working to improve, and you're always being critiqued on your next performance. It's not about what you've done. There's always room to grow.

I just try to approach every opportunity on stage, as if it's my first time and my last time.

I feel like I represent every young dancer, and even non-dancer, who felt they were not accepted by the ballet world. I'd like to think that they can see themselves in me.

There are muscles that we have in our feet that most human beings don't even know that we have. The strength that we have is so detailed.

Lovers navigating with different moral compasses causes the relation ship to sail in circles.

The man who is completely wise and virtuous has no need of glory, except so far as it…eases his way to action by the greater trust that it procures him.

The fastidious entrepreneur is a connoisseur as well as a poet.

Our skin is very thin. It doesn't take much for us to jump off a ledge or to kill one another. It can happen very, very quickly.

Oppressed cultures often envy those which are not, or oppressed individuals do, and sometimes those which - and who - are not envy those which - who - are.

On a personal level, I'm proud of Grace Dunham for being so staunchly in her identity. It's a very unusual thing for a young person. I think she's been very strong about it.

It's hard to find a good guy... all girls know that guys don't think with their brains.

If I had to resign every time the Cabinet disagrees with me, I could not last as a Defense Minister one week.

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.

Listen to your Own Heart Concerning the Path you Wish to Travel.