Quotes
“ There are three ways to ultimate success: the first way is to be kind, the second way is to be kind, and the third way is to be kind. ”
— Fred Rogers
Entertainment Male Role Models He / Him · Pronounced: FRED ROJ-erz
He / Him · Pronounced: FRED ROJ-erz
Source: Widely attributed to Rogers; exact original context to be confirmed · original link to be verified
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Rogers spent decades modelling gentleness and patience to children on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood, at a time when that wasn't seen as a masculine trait.
“ If you can't love yourself, how in the hell you gonna love somebody else? ”
— RuPaul
Entertainment LGBTQ+ Black He / Him · Pronounced: ROO-pawl
He / Him · Pronounced: ROO-pawl
Context RuPaul's closing line on every episode of Drag Race, which grew into a wider mantra on self-worth.
Read More: LGBTQ+ Voices
“ Language brings with it an identity and a culture, or at least the perception of it. A shared language says 'We're the same.' A language barrier says 'We're different.' ”
— Trevor Noah
Entertainment Black Global South He / Him · Pronounced: TREV-er NOH-uh
He / Him · Pronounced: TREV-er NOH-uh
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Noah, who grew up mixed-race under apartheid South Africa, on language as a tool of belonging or exclusion.
“ I'm not OK with someone writing the Asian experience for an Asian character. ”
— Awkwafina
Entertainment Women Asian She / Her · Pronounced: awk-wuh-FEE-nuh
She / Her · Pronounced: awk-wuh-FEE-nuh
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Awkwafina on the importance of authorship, not just casting, in Asian stories.
Read More: Asian Voices
“ Turn your wounds into wisdom. ”
— Oprah Winfrey
Entertainment Women Black She / Her · Pronounced: OH-prah WIN-free
She / Her · Pronounced: OH-prah WIN-free
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Winfrey on turning hardship into insight, a thread running through her own story.
“ I know that the ones who love us will miss us. ”
— Keanu Reeves
Entertainment Male Role Models He / Him · Pronounced: kee-AH-noo REEVZ
He / Him · Pronounced: kee-AH-noo REEVZ
Context Reeves' answer when asked what he thinks happens when we die, widely shared for its quiet warmth.
“ Depression is not as easy as saying, 'Just find your joy and you're going to become happy.' That was never my experience. ”
— Jonathan Van Ness
Entertainment LGBTQ+ They / Them · Pronounced: JON-uh-thun VAN NESS
They / Them · Pronounced: JON-uh-thun VAN NESS
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Van Ness pushing back on the idea that depression can be resolved by simply choosing happiness.
Read More: LGBTQ+ Voices
“ I must find positive outlets for anger or it will destroy me... the highest positive is forgiveness. ”
— Sidney Poitier
Entertainment Male Role Models Black He / Him · Pronounced: SID-nee pwah-tee-AY
He / Him · Pronounced: SID-nee pwah-tee-AY
Context Poitier, the first Black man to win the Best Actor Oscar, on channelling anger rather than being consumed by it.
“ Be kind to one another. ”
— Ellen DeGeneres
Entertainment Women LGBTQ+ She / Her · Pronounced: EL-en duh-JEN-er-iss
She / Her · Pronounced: EL-en duh-JEN-er-iss
Context DeGeneres's daily sign-off, which grew into a signature message.
Read More: LGBTQ+ Voices
“ There is nothing stronger than a broken woman who has rebuilt herself. ”
— Hannah Gadsby
Entertainment Women LGBTQ+ She / Her · Pronounced: HAN-uh GADZ-bee
She / Her · Pronounced: HAN-uh GADZ-bee
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context From Gadsby's show Nanette, which reframed stand-up around trauma and survival.
Read More: LGBTQ+ Voices
“ Just me existing, as an openly black transgender woman from a working-class background, thriving, is a political act. ”
— Laverne Cox
Entertainment Women Black Trans LGBTQ+ She / Her · Pronounced: luh-VERN KOKS
She / Her · Pronounced: luh-VERN KOKS
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Cox on visibility itself as resistance.
Read More: LGBTQ+ Voices
“ I recognize how hard this is for people, and I recognize how hard it is for me. But I have a certain set of skills that allow me to deal with this stuff. And I realized, with gratitude, optimism is sustainable. ”
— Michael J. Fox
Entertainment Male Role Models Disabled He / Him · Pronounced: MY-kul jay FOKS
He / Him · Pronounced: MY-kul jay FOKS
Context Fox, who has lived with Parkinson's disease since 1991, on how he sustains optimism through a degenerative illness.
Read More: Disability Rights
“ If we truly envision an equal world, it takes equal effort and sacrifice. Today is one of the most indelible days of my life because of Mark Wahlberg, WME and a community of women and men who share in this accomplishment. ”
— Michelle Williams
Entertainment Women She / Her · Pronounced: mih-SHEL WIL-yumz
She / Her · Pronounced: mih-SHEL WIL-yumz
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Williams after her co-star donated his reshoot fee to close the pay gap between them.
“ I'm definitely not all Asians, but the thing that I've always done is aggressively been myself. ”
— Awkwafina
Entertainment Women Asian She / Her · Pronounced: awk-wuh-FEE-nuh
She / Her · Pronounced: awk-wuh-FEE-nuh
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Awkwafina on refusing to carry the weight of representing an entire community alone.
Read More: Asian Voices
“ I shall dance all my life. ”
— Josephine Baker
Entertainment Women Black LGBTQ+ She / Her · Pronounced: JOH-zeh-feen BAY-ker
She / Her · Pronounced: JOH-zeh-feen BAY-ker
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Baker, an entertainer who became a civil-rights figure and wartime Resistance agent, on a life given to performance.
Read More: LGBTQ+ Voices Their Story Missouri-born entertainer who became one of France's most celebrated performers, taking Paris by storm in the 1920s. During the Second World War she worked with the French Resistance, smuggling coded messages hidden in her sheet music, and was later awarded the Croix de guerre. In 1963 she stood on the podium at the March on Washington as the only official female speaker.
Her memoirs and the biography by Jean-Claude Baker are the fullest primary sources. See Their Full Story
“ This is politics for me. This is my life. I had to fight my entire life to get to the place where I could wear a dress to the Oscars. ”
— Billy Porter
Entertainment Black LGBTQ+ He / Him · Pronounced: BIL-ee POR-ter
He / Him · Pronounced: BIL-ee POR-ter
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Porter on his red-carpet fashion as a political statement, not just style.
Read More: LGBTQ+ Voices
“ I encourage women to step up. Don't wait for somebody to ask you. ”
— Reese Witherspoon
Entertainment Women She / Her · Pronounced: REESE WITH-er-spoon
She / Her · Pronounced: REESE WITH-er-spoon
Source: Widely reported interview material · original link to be verified
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Witherspoon on taking initiative rather than waiting to be invited.
“ A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. ”
— Christopher Reeve
Entertainment Male Role Models Disabled He / Him · Pronounced: KRIS-tuh-fer REEV
He / Him · Pronounced: KRIS-tuh-fer REEV
Source: Still Me, autobiography · original link to be verified
Context Reeve, paralysed after a horse-riding accident in 1995, redefining heroism away from physical feats and towards endurance.
Read More: Disability Rights
“ Europeans didn't vibe with the way women held power in many Native societies. ”
— Lily Gladstone
Entertainment Women Indigenous She / Her · Pronounced: LIL-ee GLAD-stohn
She / Her · Pronounced: LIL-ee GLAD-stohn
Source: Vanity Fair interview · original link to be verified
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context Gladstone on the erasure of matrilineal power structures in many Indigenous nations.
Read More: Indigenous Voices
“ Love isn't a state of perfect caring. It is an active noun like struggle. ”
— Fred Rogers
Entertainment Male Role Models He / Him · Pronounced: FRED ROJ-erz
He / Him · Pronounced: FRED ROJ-erz
Source: The World According to Mister Rogers · original link to be verified
Context From Rogers' published collection of reflections on kindness and care.
“ If your dream only includes you, it's too small. ”
— Ava DuVernay
Entertainment Women Black She / Her · Pronounced: AY-vuh doo-vur-NAY
She / Her · Pronounced: AY-vuh doo-vur-NAY
Widely credited to this person; primary source not yet confirmed.
Context DuVernay, a leading film-maker, on ambition that makes room for others.
