I would like to be Maria, but there is La Callas who demands that I carry myself with her dignity.

I’m not the next anyone, I’m the first Maria Sharapova

I'm not the next anyone, I'm the first Maria Sharapova.

When people tell you who they are, Maya Angelou famously advised, believe them. Just as importantly, however, when people try to tell you who you are, don’t believe them. You are the only custodian of your own integrity, and the assumptions made by those that misunderstand who you are and what you stand for reveal a great deal about them and absolutely nothing about you.

You are born an artist or you are not. And you stay an artist, dear, even if your voice is less of a fireworks. The artist is always there.

Good teachers make the best of a pupil's means; great teachers foresee a pupil's ends.