Financial independence is paramount. My mom always says that when a woman is financially independent, she has the ability to live life on her own terms. I think that was the soundest advice that I ever got. No matter where you go in life or who you get married to, you have to be financially independent - whether you use it or not.
Priyanka Chopra
Don't try to squeeze into a glass slipper. Instead, shatter the glass ceiling.
I wasn't the prettiest girl in the room, but I learned to carry myself with confidence - that's how you make the best impression on people.
I am a very private person. No one ever knows anything about me as I don't think it is necessary. I tell people as much as I want them to know about me.
To be a philanthropist, you don't have to be Nelson Mandela. You just have to look around you and ask, 'What little bit can I do? Whose life can I touch?'
Any transition is easier if you believe in yourself and your talent.
I taught myself confidence. When I'd walk into a room and feel scared to death, I'd tell myself, 'I'm not afraid of anybody.' And people believed me. You've got to teach yourself to take over the world.
There are cliques in Bollywood, and people stick together, but I have always tried to stick to my work. As an industry, Bollywood is very competitive, and I'm very competitive as a person, but I've never been a part of any clique, and I've always worked with all actors and directors, all camps.
I think it's great to be flawed. I am hugely flawed, and I like it this way. That's the fun of life. You fall, get up, make mistakes, learn from them, be human and be you.
I can never be incognito... but I love it!
I don't believe in being a size 0. I don't believe in starving. Women should totally embrace their curves.
I lost my dad two years ago to cancer, and before he died, I asked him to write 'Daddy's Little Girl' on a piece of paper for me. I told him it was for an album. He practiced and practiced and then sent it to me, and I had it tattooed onto my wrist and surprised him with it. He cried when he saw it, happy tears. This way I always carry him with me.
I speak, Hindi, English, and American. I'm trilingual.
I like buying drones, hover boards, 360-degree cameras and fabulous cars. I am a little bit like a boy. I also spend a lot on books. I am a voracious reader, and I love vintage stores and first editions.
You can be an absolute woman and also be smart and tough and not lose your femininity.
My career is the sum of the decisions I have made. Everyone can work hard, but I work on my own terms. I stand my ground, and once I have committed to anything, I give my 150 per cent. I don't take my work for granted, ever. I know that, forget me, no matter where anyone is, everyone is dispensable. Why would I think I am indispensable then?
Education has always been very important to me. It means you don't have to depend on anyone else.
When I became Miss World, I couldn't believe I had won it. I used to sleep with my crown because I was scared someone would steal it. In a minute, the world changed for me.
Bollywood is not a stepping stone to the West. I am extremely picky and in no hurry to sign a Hollywood film. I am only greedy for great roles; language and country is no barrier. And yes, I'll always be a Hindi film star first.
If my film does not do well, it really hurts me. But by God's grace, even if some of my films may not have done well, people have still liked my work in it.
It is in my nature to give the work I have all the discipline and due diligence that I am capable of.
In India, people love turmeric. They make turmeric milk, and sometimes I mix it with some cream or yogurt and turn it into a scrub. You'd be amazed at what it can take off your skin.
When I won Miss World, I wasn't even 18, and I only remember, like, I thought of it as a day in the races or something. It didn't feel like it was Miss World of the Millennium Year, the change of the century. I didn't understand the magnitude of it for at least a couple of years.
Justin Timberlake - I'd like to learn a little more about his suit and tie.
When I grew up in America, I didn't see anyone who looked like me on TV. I feel overwhelmed with the things that people have said to me. When I meet Indian Americans who've lived here all their lives, it's overwhelming people holding me and crying. Someone said to me, 'Thank you for making us relevant.' It's such a big thing.
Black, brown, white, yellow - why are we always talking about colors? I'm a girl. I believe in a global community.
Beauty and fashion are not really local anymore. You really have to be a global citizen to know what trends are. Now, it's pretty much the same designers and the same kind of trends, whether I am in New York, Milan, or Mumbai - it's the same.
I owe 90 per cent of my life to people because I am a public figure, but 10 per cent is private to me. And I am not saying it in a defensive way. I feel my life has been made into a TV serial.
My ambition when I was four years old was to be married.
You like someone, you court each other, you get into a relationship. You're answerable to each other. Whereas, the non-answerability of dating, my God, I don't know if I would ever be able to.
As an entertainer, I try to do projects that reflect a woman having the ability to stand up for herself.
Art is collaboration: we are artists all over the world. I believe that people are always going to watch Hindi films... that's never going to die, but I think it's amazing that collaborations like that are happening.
Generalizing a type of people is really primitive.
When it comes to an everyday situation, I am like an ant. I keep putting money aside because I know that if I want to splurge, there is a big mountain of money that I can use.
Production is a lot of work. Nobody sent me that memo when they came to me to do television.
After every bath, I make sure to moisturize my entire body. I'm obsessed with Diptyque: people love their candles, but their body products are also amazing.
I believe destiny and hard work go hand in hand. I was studying to be an engineer when my mom and my brother sent my pictures for the Miss India contest. I didn't even know about it. If that isn't destiny, what is?
I don't like guys who are conventional. I'm an achiever; he has to be an achiever. I admire drive, I admire ambition. I like a guy who keeps my on my toes.
I wanted to be cast because I'm an actor and not because of how I look or where I'm from. I'm brown. I want to be able to play a Spanish girl some day or a Mexican girl and learn the language. That's what actors do: we act.
I never thought I am a stylish. For me, style is always a representation of what you want to wear but doing it in a unique way and expressing yourself. Every girl loves to be stylish.
I was very sure I did not want to be the stereotype of what Indian people are seen as, which is Bollywood and henna. That's all great! It's what we are, and I love it. I love saris; I love music. I love henna; I love dancing, but that's not all we are.
To convince another part of the world that Bollywood is not just jokers who break into song and dance was very difficult. I'm literally ploughing the ground and making people understand that Indian actors are not a joke.
I think art cannot be planned. The audience is too smart to get the dishonesty or 'too much planning' thing. I am not a legend, but I want to be one. I want to be known as an achiever. There is so much more that I can do.
I live with romance in my brain. I'm a true-blue Cancerian like that.
When I was little, my dad used to call me 'Bandarella,' because I was a mess - a Bandar is a monkey in Hindi. I was not a girly-girl and would always break something and would be running around and didn't really fit in.
I like bad boys, and I like to take them home to my mom.
When there is a ring on my finger, which is actually given to me, then I'll tell the world. Till then, no one can claim me.
One girl used to call me Brownie and tell me to go back to my own country. At lunch, I'd get a bag of chips from the vending machine and eat it in the storage room so I wouldn't have to see her.
I was bullied by a freshman named Jeanine. She was black and supremely racist. Jeanine used to say, 'Brownie, go back to your country. You smell of curry,' or 'Do you smell curry coming?'
People keep speculating about my personal life because I am evasive about it.
