Quotes from Abby Lee Miller

The rules are there for a reason.

Everybody wants to be me. What can I say?

I don't like people going behind my back.

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

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.

Cry if you have a compound fracture, by all means. Or if your grandpa died. But otherwise, save it for your pillow.

If you want someone to say, 'She's so sweet, and she's so cute, and, honey, point your foot,' that's not my school. You can go to the YMCA and have a nobody teach your kid if that's what you want to hear.

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

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.

You don't need a lot of credentials to be prison guard in a federal prison. And, you know, you give them a set of keys and a weapon, and they're in power.

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.

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

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

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

I have good days and bad days.

I made bad decisions. I'm not denying that I made bad decisions.

What I'm denying is that I'm this cutthroat financier.

I can take a beginner kid that has never danced in their lives, and I can teach them something, or I can take a really advanced dancer, and I can make them into a professional.

As far as the general public is concerned, I always tell people that you need to look like a dance teacher like you're looking for a pediatrician.

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 don't want a brat on my team.

My wheelchair is like the Cadillac of wheelchairs; it goes up and down and back, and I can lay down in it.

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

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.