Abby Lee Miller

I didn't have any children of my own.

I'm an only child.

You always have to remember that if you say something negative, it's going to come back to haunt you.

I'm not talent. Not considered 'talent' by Lifetime. I'd like to say I'm their savior, but that would be cocky.

According to Lifetime, I don't know anything about TV.

I've always put everybody else's child first before my own health, before my own outfit, before my own time frame.

I want to retire and want to be able to live out my days financially secure. That's what everyone wants.

I have goals.

I made lots of mistakes - the number one mistake being trusting other people with my money.

I have spent so much time and so much energy making other people's children stars.

I was never focused on me, me, me all the time. I was always focused on somebody else.

I'm a can-do girl.

I always thought I would die of cancer because my mom and my dad both died of cancer. My dad died of osteocancer, and my mom died of colon cancer.

I don't want flowers or candy or anything like that. I just want somebody to say, 'Wow, you've done a great job.'

I'm not a bad person.

I like to work.

I rely on other people every day of my life.

I don't want to hear the word 'can't.'

I was raised to be independent.

I've been talked about by a lot better people than the general public.

I was told that someone on Facebook said something 'horrible' about me. Who cares? At least they're watching the show.

I don't like people going behind my back.

I have no problem yelling at anybody's kid - free of charge!

Competitions are a business, first and foremost.

So many people think of me as a character on TV, but first and foremost, my passion is teaching dance and creating employable, working dancers.

I like to choreograph and create and design the costumes and do it all and then step back and watch it and then move on to the next project.

I just was never into performing. It's just hard work. It's hard work.

Like it or not, there are a lot of dance teachers in this country who respect me, whether they personally like me or not.

I never wanted to perform and never proclaimed myself to be a performer.

I was always interested in choreography - in making people think and feel something.

For the general public or psychos on Facebook, for everyone who's made one negative comment about me, I've probably gotten 250-300 positive comments.

My success rate speaks for itself.

When you walk into my classroom, I'm going to give it to you straight, just like in the real world, because that's the only way to prepare you for the real world.

When you're so busy shooting 12 hours a day, you just eat what someone sticks in front of you.

I teach children to be winners.

My mother taught children to love to dance.

It takes me about two hours to run into Target. People always want a picture. They hem and haw, and they can't spit the words out, so they waste about five minutes of my time just standing there getting ready for a picture. Just do it!

I think any activity you have your kids in, you're all trying to live vicariously through them. And you're jealous of the kid that's naturally more talented or has the facility, the body, the genes, or the God-given talent. People get jealous of that.

If I could have worked from the time I was born until I was 18 and never had to work again, I would have done it.

I've taken so many kids out of Pittsburgh and onto the great white way in New York City right into a Broadway show.

I create stars.

Doing a show for three weeks is nothing like doing a show for seven seasons.

I try to be vegan... I really, really try. I don't eat any red meat, and the whole animal thing really upsets me, so I've tried.

I saw 'Magic Mike,' and I thought it was great.

Don't hire a prison consultant.

TV's a big deal in prison. A big deal. People watch it nonstop.

I'm a good teacher and am great at observation and picking out what's wrong and fixing it.

People don't realise how difficult it is to work with people day in and day out that know absolutely nothing.

Dancers are always striving for perfection. A great dancer never achieves it: you always want to do another turn, a higher jump,a more difficult acrobatic jump.

How does a nice Catholic girl end up going to prison for a year? It's crazy. I've made mistakes. I have to pay for those mistakes.