Lea Michele quotes:

I would tell 17-year-olds to be proud of who you are. Don't try to change yourself for others. Focus on school and your future. Boys and friends will come and go, just focus on you and your future.

I remember watching Barbra Streisand and seeing Jennifer Grey in 'Dirty Dancing' - these were people who acted like me and looked like me. Now it's great that everyone on 'Glee' is so unique and people can relate to us and look up to us.

I'm simple. I love hiking, going to the gym, doing some simple stuff. I love being outdoors, I love bike riding. Just stuff that's fun!

I've known since day one of working on 'Spring Awakening' - back in 1999 - that it was special.

Every now and then, I have blissful moments of thanking God for all the amazing things that are happening. When I leave the White House after just meeting Obama or when I see my face on the cover of 'Rolling Stone' or when I meet someone who tells me that their daughter is inspired by me, those are moments that are incredibly joyful.

When I wasn't working on Broadway, I worked in a Bat Mitzvah dress shop and was the Cinderella of the shop - always cleaning and vacuuming!

I am an unconventional beauty. I grew up in a high school where if you didn't have a nose job and money and if you weren't thin, you weren't cool, popular, beautiful. I was always told that I wasn't pretty enough to be on television.

I just moved into a new house, so I love spending time at home. Everything for me is all about self-care because I really feel that if I'm at my best, than I'm able to come to my job and really be feeling the best, so if I'm not working out or going on a hike, than I'm at home recharging and cooking dinner and hanging out with my cat.

It's just really important I think for fashion to be affordable, because everyone should have the opportunity to wear cute things and be happy and comfortable in what they are wearing. That's definitely how I like to shop and how I like to think about clothes and fashion.

When I was a little kid, my mother and I used to watch the Golden Globes and I would dress up and she would get sparkling apple cider and we would make a tray of hors doeuvres and watch it together. And I would get up and make a pretend speech.

I was never pretty enough to be the pretty girl and I was never quirky enough to be the quirky girl. Boys didn't look at me in high school and think I was the pretty girl.

Growing up in New York has influenced my style so much, and I have an amazing relationship with my stylist, Estee Stanley. We have so much fun with the whole process. She picks out dresses, I try things on and play dress up, and we get creative to see what works.

Britney Spears is definitely my favorite past Candie's girl; her campaigns were gorgeous.

Well, everything with being vegan and vegetarian is a really big commitment. You have to do what you feel is best and what you believe in and what your body is telling you that it needs. I really think everyone should do what's best for them, and what's best for me may not be best for someone else.

When I was a little kid, my mother and I used to watch the 'Golden Globes' and I would dress up and she would get sparkling apple cider and we would make a tray of hors d'oeuvres and watch it together. And I would get up and make a pretend speech.

Glee' has made me feel beautiful.

How many managers told me, 'Get a nose job. You're not pretty enough?' But I proved them wrong.

Growing up on stage, I was introduced to makeup at a young age and I will never forget the first time I tried on a L'Oreal Paris iconic lipstick - it was instant glamour and I've been hooked ever since.

I was a vegan for two years, and I really enjoyed it. Then, I got to a point in my life at which I wanted to do something else, so now I'm a vegetarian. You should make your diet one that best fits you and how you feel. Listen to your body. The most important thing is to exercise, drink lots of water, and take really good care of yourself.

I'm Italian and Spanish and Jewish. I'm 100 different things meshed into one. I think that shows girls that uniqueness is beautiful. They can look at me on a magazine cover and see me in a movie and say that they have someone they can relate to.

I do have 14 tattoos, but I also do come home every single night and watch reality TV with my cat.

I can't believe it's been four years now, and from watching that pilot, we really all looked like babies. It's unbelievable just how far everything has come. I'm happier now than I've ever been on the show and in my life. I really owe so much of my happiness to 'Glee.'

Sarfati. That's my real last name. I don't use it a lot because I got 'Lea So-fatty,' 'Lea So-farty' at school.

I love being healthy. I get a lot of sleep. I'm a girl who eats. And I feel beautiful no matter how I look. I have my family to thank for that.

I'm a really big animal lover.

I always knew that I wanted to work and I knew I wanted to be a singer and an actor. I knew that every choice I made would help me get to that point. So the better the choices I made, the more of a chance I would have to get to where I wanted to be.

Working out for me is something I do when I feel like it. But it's really about feeling good and taking care of my body rather than having to fit into any sort of model or anything like that. I try to eat well, and everything I do is really just to make me feel my best so that I can come to my job or my personal life and just feel really good.

I really felt like I finally made it. Having your first fake pregnancy rumor. It was really awesome. I feel like it's part of what happens in this business, but that's a real one. That's a cool one to get.

I have such a passion because I adore animals so much.

It's so important, so comforting, to have lampposts in this world who can light the way.

The one thing I find the least romantic is taking a horse and carriage ride. I can't express enough how unhappy these horses are and how much pain and suffering they go through each day. Please do not ride [in horse-drawn carriages]. Take a beautiful walk together with your loved ones instead of bringing more pain to these beautiful animals.

I don't think I've gone a day in my life without being inspired by Celine Dion. If you would've seen me at her concert in Las Vegas - like, I'm surprised I didn't get kicked out. I was literally sitting at the edge of my seat like the happiest girl in the entire universe.

I have been involved with 'Spring Awakening' for six years. I am 20 now - I just turned 20 in August - and I originally auditioned when I was 14 years old. I auditioned for Michael Mayer, Duncan Sheik and Steven Sater.

I don't stop. It's my nature. People have to tell me to slow down. I plan on playing every role on Broadway. I want to do 'Evita.' I want to do 'Sweeney Todd' with Chris Colfer. We want to do 'Wicked.' I'll be Elphaba and he wants to play 'Guy-linda.' I want to do movies, make music. 'Glee' is only the beginning.

I want to be in 'Funny Girl.' And I want Ryan Murphy to direct it.

I've always been such a fan of Habitat for Humanity and the work that they do.

You should make your diet one that best fits you and how you feel. Listen to your body. The most important thing is to exercise, drink lots of water, and take really good care of yourself.

If you believe in yourself you can make yourself whatever you want to be.

I have loved 'Les Miz' for so long. It was the first Broadway show I'd ever done.

I feel like the luckiest girl in the world.

I'm overjoyed and beyond honored to be a part of the L'Oreal Paris family. I'm such a fan of L'Oreal Paris not just for all of their amazing products, but for what they stand for.

Whether it be current or past, every single song that I recorded is about me. It's a peek into my life, past and present. Maybe it's coming from my theater and performance background, but nothing felt right unless I could relate to it.

I don't go out to clubs. You'll never see me on a table at a bar, jumping up and down.

I'm a vegan. It makes me feel really good and bright.

Listen, if you were with me on a plane? I'm embarrassed for the people who sit next to me. I have such a regimen! I, like, pound on the face cream because your face will dry out, I get the stuff you put in your nose so no nose germs come in, I take elderberry for immunity, I wear a scarf.

One of my favorite things about 'Spring Awakening' is that it is enjoyable and important for both kids and adults to see.

When I was on Broadway, my most recent Broadway show was 'Spring Awakening,' and every night I did a topless scene.

I worked consistently on Broadway from when I was 8 years old through 'Spring Awakening,' which I left in 2008.

My mother's side is Italian; my father's side is Jewish. We're the kind of family where every Sunday night we have dinner with all 19 of my cousins.

Trust me, sunscreen is so, so, so important and so I always wear sunscreen, but I still get really tan.

I'd love to be able to play all different roles, whether it's Maureen in Rent or Maria in West Side Story. I would just love to be involved in this business forever.

I am a very outspoken person, and if something makes me uncomfortable, you will know that it makes me uncomfortable, but that's as far as it goes.

I make a vegan baked ziti. And even though that doesn't sound enjoyable, it really is.

I worried that people wouldn't like me. Now I try not to worry and focus on being happy.

I love being outdoors - hiking, biking, and swimming.

I love myself, the way I look, my body, but sometimes I can't help but feel insecure.

Film is an itch I have yet to scratch.

I would love Kate Middleton to be in 'Glee.' Wouldn't that be fantastic? That would be great.

I didn't know I could sing until I auditioned for 'Les Miserables.' My friend was auditioning, and I wanted to audition too.

When it comes to 'Glee,' I feel like I've been in a relationship, and now I can mingle a bit.

I was in choir in school. I kind of just did it. I already knew I wanted to sing. My music program in my school wasn't really great - people didn't really want to be part of the choir, they didn't want to do the plays and stuff like that. It definitely wasn't the cool thing to do.

'Glee' has made me feel beautiful.

But my main thing that I would love to see as a fan of 'Glee,' like I said, is to really get into the character and who they are and what they do outside of school. I think that that's interesting. And then of course the themed stuff and the album episodes are all really cool too.

A lighthouse doesn't save the ships; it doesn't go out and rescue them, it's just this pillar that helps to guide people home,

But people are going to say what they want to say. I know who I am, and I'm not perfect.

By showing that you don't have to lose yourself, maybe someone else will feel some sort of comfort.

Confidence is what makes you stand out.

Find something youâ??re passionate about and you know, do something.

Grief is a very scary thing, and there comes a point where it can really take you down.

I always sing Adele in the shower. But everyone should know you never sing an Adele song in public because no one's better than Adele.

I am obsessed with Gwyneth Paltrow.

I consider myself lucky to be an only child because if I had other siblings, my mother would not have been able to take me to every audition and be so supportive of my career.

I don't see anyone as being different than anyone else, whether you're gay or straight or whatever - everyone's the same. That's how I was raised.

I knew what I wanted to be at 8 years old - an actor!

I like it when a movie scares the s - t out of me. That, for me, is just the best.

I love horses so much. Horses are my life.

I love to cook so much. I like to cook everything. I really like to eat my food.

I need some me-time. I have to remember to rest, because I have a natural energy and I don't want to burn out.

I was one of the only girls in my high school that didn't get a nose job. And if anybody needed it, I probably did. I'm proud to be on a positive show and to be a voice for girls and say, You don't need to look like everybody else. Love who you are.

If anythingâ??s going on in our lives, we have each other. One time, I was having a bad day, and I called Chris Colfer. He came over with a pint of ice cream and Madea Goes to Jail, and it was, like, the best night of my life.

If you think that there are actually covers that we haven't done on 'Glee' that I could then put on an album... We've done everything! Pretty soon we're just going to have to start doing opera and stuff on the show.

I'm a relationship girl. I would rather be long-distance than not have a relationship at all.

I'm dating my celebrity crush!

I'm honored to be in a position to have young girls or performers look up to me.

I'm Italian and we curse a lot when we talk.

I'm such a fan of Idina Menzel! I think she's made a wonderful career in this business. I love her so much, and any role she's played, I'd love to be able to follow in her footsteps.

It is important to have someone that supports you and encourage you, someone that makes you feel that you are unstoppable, that you can do anything in the world because you have him.

I've always been inspired by female performers and artists who really surround who they are around their voice. For me, it's always been about the voice. I wanna hear someone just sit by a piano, on a stool, and just sing - and that's it!

I've always been proud of my body, my Jewish nose and all of that. Hollywood's Hollywood, but that's not going to change.

Los Angeles has been good to me.

My idea of heaven used to be relaxing at home with a cheese plate and champagne.

New York is who I am.

Nobody should be entirely defined by one thing

Theatre just fills me up so much.

Uniqueness is what makes you the most beautiful.

You don't need to look like everybody else. Love who you are.

I love my onscreen frenemy, Dianna Agron! Having the opportunity to work so closely with her has been amazing.