A curated register of quotes from under-represented voices.

“ 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 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

“ 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

“ 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

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

— Nina Simone

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

— Sofia Isella, 2023

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

— Freddie Mercury

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

— Bad Bunny, 2025

“ 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

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

— Nina Simone

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

— David Bowie

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

— John Lennon, 1980

“ 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

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

— Frank Ocean, 2012

“ If they don't give you a seat at the table, stand on it with a megaphone. ”

— Mari Copeny

“ If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. ”

— Toni Morrison, 1981

“ I've always held on to that America that I know, that I love, that does welcome refugees with open arms. ”

— Ilhan Omar, 2019

“ Education must not simply teach work, it must teach life. ”

— W.E.B. Du Bois

“ Real men don't hurt women. ”

— Barack Obama, 2014

“ I knew I was going to have to outwork people, I knew I was going to have to outsmart. ”

— Michael Oher, 2023