A curated register of quotes from under-represented voices.

“ I know that the ones who love us will miss us. ”

— Keanu Reeves, 2019

“ A hero is an ordinary individual who finds the strength to persevere and endure in spite of overwhelming obstacles. ”

— Christopher Reeve, 1998

“ I'm not OK with someone writing the Asian experience for an Asian character. ”

— Awkwafina, 2019

“ Being kind is a choice that you can make absolutely every single day. ”

— Tom Hanks, 2019

“ I became an artist, and thank god I did, because we are the only profession that celebrates what it means to live a life. ”

— Viola Davis, 2017

“ I'm definitely not all Asians, but the thing that I've always done is aggressively been myself. ”

— Awkwafina, 2018

“ Just me existing, as an openly black transgender woman from a working-class background, thriving, is a political act. ”

— Laverne Cox

“ Ever since I could form coherent thoughts, I knew I was a girl trapped inside a boy's body. There was never any confusion in my mind. ”

— Jazz Jennings, 2016

“ I shall dance all my life. ”

— Josephine Baker

“ Europeans didn't vibe with the way women held power in many Native societies. ”

— Lily Gladstone, 2023

“ The stories we tell about communities affect the laws that get passed, the people that get attacked, the countries that get invaded. ”

— Riz Ahmed

“ I'm trying to take the stigma off the word ambitious, so we encourage more little girls to be ambitious, because I do think that's how society will change. ”

— Reese Witherspoon

“ I was everywhere with everybody, and at the same time I was all by myself. ”

— Trevor Noah, 2016

“ It's our time to have wage equality once and for all and equal rights for women in the United States of America. ”

— Patricia Arquette, 2015

“ There is hope in the young people out there. And I just want to say to all my peers out there doing the work in the streets: I see you, I admire you, I thank you. ”

— Zendaya, 2020

“ I encourage women to step up. Don't wait for somebody to ask you. ”

— Reese Witherspoon

“ I'm a proud person who happens to be deaf. ”

— Marlee Matlin

“ Blood, sweat and respect. First two you give, the last one you earn. ”

— Dwayne Johnson, 2012

“ I hope it's a bit of a love letter to everyone who feels different, who feels out of place, to all of the Black women who have walked into rooms and felt like they haven't been welcomed. ”

— Cynthia Erivo, 2024

“ Turn your wounds into wisdom. ”

— Oprah Winfrey

“ Stop talking about it. I'm going to stop calling you a white man. And I'm going to ask you to stop calling me a black man. I know you as Mike Wallace. You know me as Morgan Freeman. ”

— Morgan Freeman, 2005