Top 70 Misty Copeland Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “I think that training is the key, definitely, and I devoted my life to it.”

— Misty Copeland

2. “Success is not easy and I think everyone should know that hard work and perseverance and being open to giving back are so much more powerful than stepping all over people to get to the top.”

— Misty Copeland

3. “Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you.”

— Misty Copeland

4. “The path to your success is not as fixed and inflexible as you think.”

— Misty Copeland

5. “Maybe I’m seeing myself in a different way than the people in the audience see me, ’cause to me, I think I look like a ballerina and I feel like a ballerina. But maybe I’m not seeing what other people are seeing.”

— Misty Copeland

6. “The woman represents ballet. She is most important, powerful and vital to it. Therefore, she is not “less than” a man. If anything she is “more than” in this field.”

— Misty Copeland

7. “The best piece of advice that I remember probably on a daily basis is to accept everything about me that is different. That is what makes me special.”

— Misty Copeland

8. “Start unknown, finish unforgettable.”

— Misty Copeland

9. “You’re always working to improve, and you’re always being critiqued on your next performance. It’s not about what you’ve done. There’s always room to grow.”

— Misty Copeland

10. “Without my mentors, there is no Misty.”

— Misty Copeland

11. “It’s difficult to exist as a woman, especially I think as a powerful woman. You want to stand strong and you want to be considered and equal.”

— Misty Copeland

12. “When I was younger, my feet would hurt a lot, but you build up calluses and strength and you don’t feel as much pain there.”

— Misty Copeland

13. “It’s time to write our own story.”

— Misty Copeland

14. “Know that you can start late, look different, be uncertain and still succeed.”

— Misty Copeland

15. “I feel like I represent every young dancer, and even non-dancer, who felt they were not accepted by the ballet world. I’d like to think that they can see themselves in me.”

— Misty Copeland

16. “Don’t underestimate yourself. You are more capable than you think.”

— Misty Copeland

17. “My goal has always been to be a principal dancer with ABT.”

— Misty Copeland

18. “I think I’m pretty laid back. I like cooking, being at home, and going to concerts. And I love to shop!”

— Misty Copeland

19. “When you see the body outside of a costume and see the strength that it takes, people would look at dance a different way and see how athletic it is. You’re not just born like that.”

— Misty Copeland

20. “You can dream big and it doesn’t matter what you look like, where you come from.”

— Misty Copeland

21. “A lot of people think, “Oh I’m going to eat whatever I want and then go to the gym.” And I’ve definitely been one of those people and it just doesn’t give me the results that I need to have the physique of a ballerina.”

— Misty Copeland

22. “I’m definitely very careful about the things that I want to be a part of, but it’s also important for me to get dance out there to more people.”

— Misty Copeland

23. “I know that I’ll forever be involved in ballet. This is where my life was meant to be, and I don’t see myself straying completely away, ever.”

— Misty Copeland

24. “Meeting Raven Wilkinson and having her as a mentor, it was that kind of support from the generations that came before me that helped to lift me up and give me the confidence to then be able to give back and bring other minorities with me on this journey.”

— Misty Copeland

25. “My first ballet class was on a basketball court. I’m in my gym clothes and my socks trying to do this thing called ballet.”

— Misty Copeland

26. “I’m a pescatarian, so I don’t eat red meat or pork. So my dinners usually consist of seafood in some way. And maybe cookies after!”

— Misty Copeland

27. “The higher you go up in rank, usually the longer you can dance.”

— Misty Copeland

28. “I just try to approach every opportunity on stage, as if it’s my first time and my last time.”

— Misty Copeland

29. “I learned how to communicate and articulate myself from ballet. It’s just insane to me, when they don’t think of that as a part of our education.”

— Misty Copeland

30. “Something happens when you feel that energy and excitement from the audience. And you do, I don’t know, four pirouettes. You jump higher than you ever have. And it’s just this really magical thing that happens in those moments.”

— Misty Copeland

31. “Ballet was exactly what I was searching for, but my environment definitely made me the dancer and the person that I am today. And the Hip-Hop culture was a big part of it.”

— Misty Copeland

32. “Ballet found me. I was discovered by a teacher in middle school. I always danced, my whole life. I never had any training, never was exposed to seeing dance, but I always had something inside of me.”

— Misty Copeland

33. “I may not be there yet, but I am closer than I was yesterday.”

— Misty Copeland

34. “I absolutely love what I do, and I want to dance for as long as I can and feel good about what I am putting out there on the stage.”

— Misty Copeland

35. “I don’t believe in dieting, I don’t believe in having certain moments in your life where you’re healthy and then moments when you’re like, “I’m going to eat whatever I want.” It’s just finding what works for your body and always eating healthy.”

— Misty Copeland

36. “I think that I’m so fortunate to have found classical ballet. It completely changed my life and it shaped the person that I am today, on and off the stage.”

— Misty Copeland

37. “Hopefully, I’ll be a part of ABT, in some way, forever. I think I’ll always be a part of ballet and try to push diversity, for as long as I live.”

— Misty Copeland

38. “I don’t feel like my life is that of a superstar! Every day I wake up, I take the train, I go to my ballet class. My everyday life is pretty normal.”

— Misty Copeland

39. “I do think that it’s a responsibility when there are so few of us as African Americans to kind of get to that place of success in a positive light. We should take a stance and stand for something and use that platform for positivity.”

— Misty Copeland

40. “I think anything that affects me in my personal life is going to help me be a better artist on stage.”

— Misty Copeland

41. “That it’s possible to do positive things and I think that’s how we’re going to set an example to be respected as women in the world.”

— Misty Copeland

42. “Going on stage and doing ballet, for the first time, was even more verification of, “This is what I’m meant to do. This is what I’m going to do. I’m going to make it somehow.””

— Misty Copeland

43. “I had no idea what I was walking into, and the years and years of hard work it would take. I felt like an outsider and like it was never going to happen. But even if I would have known, I think I still would have done it. Dancers are perfectionists, and that’s what keeps us going and growing.”

— Misty Copeland

44. “I do think Under Armour is setting a new example for what a ballerina is, and that you can be feminine and an athlete and represent what a woman is at the same time.”

— Misty Copeland

45. “I was aware of my race from a very young age. Not in a negative way. Coming from an interracial background, I think it is important to understand who you are.”

— Misty Copeland

46. “There are muscles that we have in our feet that most human beings don’t even know that we have. The strength that we have is so detailed.”

— Misty Copeland

47. “Going on stage and transcending the audience and becoming this otherworldly thing makes you a dancer. It’s not so black and white.”

— Misty Copeland

48. “I want to share the ballet world with everyone.”

— Misty Copeland

49. “But I think the more you eat healthy clean foods the more you create them.”

— Misty Copeland

50. “In a ballet company, you’re trying to create unison and uniform when you’re in a cour de ballet.”

— Misty Copeland