Quotes from Tyler Oakley

A lot of the education that I got at Michigan State I still use to this very day.

In middle school, I was really into the 'Redwall' series, about anthropomorphic rodents in medieval times. I had a bowl cut, too, if you need the full imagery.

I want people to get a better sense of who I am, whether they've seen every video or zero videos.

I'm a fast foodie - like, a foodie, but with food courts. I'd love to go with all my friends to a food court that's also a buffet - with unlimited orange chicken from Panda Express, curly fries from Arby's, Hawaiian pizza from Sbarro, and Coke Zero. I'm a simple man with simple pleasures.

I always think about the fact that PewDiePie, who has tens of millions of followers, started with zero. All of my favorite creators started with zero. And all it takes is one video to dive deep, and you are officially a YouTuber. So you've got to make that first video. It's not going to be your best, but you will learn as you go.

When I graduated from college, I got a 9-to-5 traditional job doing social media for a company, and I'd spend all day long fighting with the system of getting things approved and the fact that social media has such a quick turnaround. Things had to be very reactive and instant.

I spend all day replying to tweets and reblogging posts and sharing fan art. I think it's the most important thing I can possibly do, to stay involved in the community as a part of the community, not ahead of the community. I'm very much the same level of them in it.

Since the beginning, I have always tried to just be me. There have been moments in my career as a YouTuber where I've recognized that I'm trying to emulate something else, or I'm being heavily influenced by a YouTuber or something like that, and I realize that's not what I want to be putting out.

Being misunderstood - that's the thing that scares me. Because my life is about oversharing.

I try to be conscious of others, put my best foot forward and show growth. I just try to be my best self - and I think that is the most important thing.

I'm trying to leave more of my calendar open for the spontaneous things. A lot of fun stuff that happened in previous years were things that were like, 'Hey are you available next week?' I wasn't really open unless it was planned months in advance. I'm excited to play it by ear and let a lot of stuff happen as it happens.

For any YouTuber, if you're too nervous to have somebody else document, it may be that what you're putting out there isn't authentic.

Nowadays, if somebody in America is feeling alone and wants to find a coming out story, they just search 'coming out,' and they'll find millions of first-person examples of people telling their story.

Best thing about doing Youtube as a job - the Youtube friends that I've met all around the world, that I never would have got the chance to meet without Youtube.

Every video I make, I want to make sure that it's doing something entertaining or hopefully inspiring or maybe teaching somebody something or sharing my mistakes so that they can learn from them or anything that will make a positive impact in the world.

All the money that's donated to the Trevor Project provides resources that directly affect the youth that actually watch my videos. It's a cool thing to see them basically provide resources for each other.

I feel so lucky to partner with Awesomeness to bring my story to the big screen. I started out making videos as a way to connect and am thrilled by the opportunity to share one of the most exhilarating years of my life.

Prior to 2015, I had kind of approached every year like, 'Let's hope for the best.' I always made these year-end videos with 100 things I did, and it would kind of build itself up throughout the year. When this year started, it was like I knew the 100 things before I even got to do them.

I knew I could make a living doing my own videos instead of making them for someone else.

I have always kept my personal relationships pretty private, whether it's intimate or my family or friends - at least in videos. It's always been something that I've sworn off from sharing online.

Check thyself before thy wreck thyself.