I used to be the shy kid who would barely raise her hand or speak her mind.
I'm not shy. I'm quiet. With my close friends. I talk a lot. But if I'm at a big dinner, I'm not gonna walk in and go introduce myself to everybody.
Ali was a threat because he was a voice, and the people hated Ali when he was a voice, but once Ali could no longer speak and he wasn't a voice, they loved him. Love me now. I don't want to be loved if I could barely walk or barely talk. That's not cool.
My daddy tried to get me up to speak for the 17 years that I worked behind the scenes, but I never had the desire. Naturally, I was nervous and kind of shy. I just didn't want to do it.
I still sweat bullets if I go on The Tonight Show, but I tell myself, You can either have fun tonight or you can be shy and miserable. You ask my friends or anyone I work with now - nobody would say I was shy.
I was very shy - I didn't speak to anyone outside of my family until the fourth grade.
I might be shy, but in the field, where I have to do my work, I do it. I let my bat speak for myself.
I never really sang for anyone, apart from in the shower or with my best friend. I was shy. I didn't want to take voice lessons. I knew I could sing, but I just didn't tell anyone.
With regards to the paint, I'm normally quite introverted and shy. I keep myself to myself, and I find that when I hide behind the paint, so to speak, I'm able to let myself go more and move more freely than I can without it.
When I met Justin Bieber, I could barely speak. I was just going crazy inside.
I remember reaching college and having to introduce myself at every class, it was terrifying. I waited fists clenched as one by one my classmates said their names out loud and when it was my turn I simpered and squeezed out a barely audible introduction, my face burned as if it was on fire.
I could never muster the courage to speak to girls in my college in Pune. Most of them were Parsis and spoke English. I came from a village and could barely converse in English.
I've had failures, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't beneath me to pick up the phone and introduce myself to Bernard Malamud and say, "I'd like to introduce myself to you and to come meet you. I think I might have something that's worthy of your skills as a writer."
I arrived in the U.S.A. in 1935, to San Francisco. I got the boat from China, and I didn't even speak English. I could read a little, perhaps write a little, but that was all. It was a 17-day journey, and I learnt to speak English from the stewards.
My dad taught me, like, no matter what, when I go out and play against these bigger players, just to be myself. I knew that I was good enough and that I had the ability to. I never shy away from anyone, and I don't think anyone should.
I graduated from school for graphic design, and I started to get into acting class just to get over severe fright. I was an extremely shy person. I could barely say hello to anybody.