A curated register of quotes from under-represented voices.

“ Everybody supports women until a woman's doing better than you. ”

— Sofia Isella, 2023

“ I can't wake you up. You can wake you up. I can't cure you. You can cure you. ”

— John Lennon, 1980

“ You're trying to take all this misunderstanding and loathing, and you're trying to turn it into love, which is the wonderful thing that happens when you're trying to make music out of the rough, hard, bad things. ”

— Bruce Springsteen, 2018

“ My anxiety and depression have ruled my life for as long as I can remember and I never leave the house because of it. ”

— Kid Cudi, 2016

“ I'll tell you what freedom is to me: no fear. ”

— Nina Simone

“ Wherever we are, this is home. Wherever I go, I'll always be Puerto Rican. ”

— Bad Bunny, 2025

“ I never thought of being blind as a disadvantage, and I never thought of being black as a disadvantage. I am what I am. I love me! ”

— Stevie Wonder, 2012

“ It's an artist's duty to reflect the times in which we live. ”

— Nina Simone

“ People are just afraid of things too much. Afraid of things that don't necessarily merit fear. ”

— Frank Ocean, 2012

“ I won't be a rock star. I will be a legend. ”

— Freddie Mercury

“ Growing up in the Western world, there are so many times where I'm like, Oh, I'm not white. My name is not that easy to say. I'm not as relatable as a white person. ”

— Rina Sawayama, 2020

“ For the longest time I was trying to be white and fit in, that's also fine at some points in your life, I had to do that to survive in certain spaces. ”

— Rina Sawayama, 2020

“ I am Puerto Rican, I am Caribbean, and my music, my culture, my country's history run through my veins, from plena to reggaeton. ”

— Bad Bunny

“ Small changes end up making a big difference. It's about being a lot nicer to each other. It's just saying, 'Treat people with kindness.' ”

— Harry Styles

“ I think ageing is an extraordinary process whereby you become the person that you always should have been. ”

— David Bowie

“ If not me, who, if not now, when. ”

— Emma Watson, 2014

“ The man or the woman in whom resides greater virtue is the higher; neither the loftiness nor the lowliness of a person lies in the body according to the sex, but in the perfection of conduct and virtues. ”

— Christine de Pizan, 1405

“ So why does Wimbledon choose to place a lesser value on my championship trophy than that of the 2005 men's winner Roger Federer? ”

— Venus Williams, 2006

“ When the whole world is silent, even one voice becomes powerful. ”

— Malala Yousafzai

“ I'd rather regret the risks that didn't work out than the chances I didn't take. ”

— Simone Biles

“ I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept. ”

— Angela Davis