Vanessa Mae

But I don't think I've grown up to be a damaged adult.

Kids can be born with potential but unless it's encouraged - pushed, even - I don't think it will ever come to fruition.

I started skiing around the same time as I began playing the piano, at around four, before moving to the violin at five.

It took me realizing that a broken heart has never actually killed anyone to find the courage to ask for what I want, in just about every situation. That was part of my own growing up.

My first career ambitions involved turning into a boy; I intended to be either a railway guard or a knight errant.

It's good to like yourself, and that only comes from hard work, from doing. But vanity is dangerous; it can trip you badly.