Quotes from Lindsey Stirling

I submitted videos and applications to talent agencies and TV shows; I drove to Vegas and visited agents. I was on 'America's Got Talent'; I played for free at venues in attempts to be 'found' and yet all the experts in the entertainment industry told me that what I did was not marketable and that I had to join a group or do more traditional music.

I played the violin my whole life. I wanted to play from the time I was just a little kid, and I've always loved dance as well. I wanted to make people smile. I wanted to add an extra energy to my playing and make it visual and make it unique and fun.

Visualization - it's been huge for me. Your mind doesn't know the difference between imagination and reality. You can't always practice perfectly - my fingers will play a little bit out of tune, or my dance moves might not be as sharp - but in my mind, I can practice perfectly.

I love to perform not only music, but to make performances extremely visual, and create almost a magical fantasy. It's really an uplifting style of art that combines visuals and music in very dreamlike ways.

I was told at first that being different was a bad thing. Everywhere I went, it was just, 'You're too different'... And it turned out that being different was the best thing that ever happened to my career. It is why people travel to my shows. It's why people want to hear my story and buy my book.

I've always had a fascination with pirates. You know, I've written a song completely inspired by I want this to feel like pirates, you know, fighting together, made a music video about it, yada, yada.

The only reason I am successful is because I have stayed true to myself.

By finding the courage to be ourselves, we gain the power to make a difference.

The greatest value comes from loving yourself for who you are. I've been teaching myself this for years, so I hope that by showing what I've learned, others can find the same freedom and joy I have.

While my body might say, "I'm small and vulnerable, " my hair warns, "DON'T MESS WITH ME.

For several years I had no idea that I had become anorexic. And I'd be at places with people I cared about, but what I was thinking about was how much extra grease was on the pizza or the calories that I knew was in that shake.

Online is such an important platform... it's all one giant melting pot of talents. The times are changing. It's just art now. You can share your audiences with everyone, and it's exciting.

I really feel like sometimes I'll write these songs, and I'll just think, 'You know that couldn't have come from me alone.' I believe that God inspires us. I believe that He gives us gifts and talents, and it's up to us to develop them and choose what we do with them.

I feel like when I'm on stage and when I'm performing - or I think when anybody is developing their talents and sharing it - I think you glow.

I can remember dancing around living room with my two sisters to the music of Paganini and Mozart. I can still remember my dad combing the newspaper, circling all the free concerts in town, and on the weekends, we would go as a family.

Every time before I go into the studio, I say a prayer, and I really ask God for inspiration.

Violinists' hands aren't the prettiest because of our nails and what our hands have to go through.

Everybody has their demons that they face, and I went through a time when I thought it was impossible to love myself.

Maker is extremely proactive and creative with their talent. They seem to have mastered the difficult task of giving attention to their smaller, growing channels while still being able to add value to their larger established channels - plus, with this partnership, I am one step closer to becoming a Disney princess!

As a dancing violinist, there have been a couple of moments where I'm like, 'Oops! This is an expensive mistake!'

There are very few things that I love more than being on stage and performing, but more than anything, I want to be a positive role model for teenage girls.

Through my unique style of playing, I want to prove that you don't have to conform to be accepted. The greatest value comes from loving yourself for who you are.

My favorite thing about the success I've found is that I get to share it with my family and the ones that I love.

When I first came to college, it was a time that I was trying to figure out, 'Who am I? What makes me special?' and I started to find most of my value in the fact that I was thin.