A curated register of quotes from under-represented voices.

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

— Tom Hanks, 2019

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

— Awkwafina, 2019

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

— Lily Gladstone, 2023

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

— Trevor Noah, 2016

“ I shall dance all my life. ”

— Josephine Baker

“ If I was being 'sold' as a commodity of equal value to my male counterpart and worked as hard as him, I couldn't reconcile why I wasn't being remunerated equally. ”

— Cate Blanchett

“ 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

“ There is not an industry I can think of where there is equal pay for equal work, or abuse of power doesn't exist, for men and for women. And so equality is not a political issue, it's a humanitarian issue. ”

— Cate Blanchett, 2018

“ Let's let everybody know it's okay to have a mental illness, it's okay to have an addiction problem. ”

— Demi Lovato, 2018

“ I remember that love conquers fear, always, and that to be a man means accepting myself, weaknesses and all. That's my true superpower. ”

— Terry Crews, 2014

“ 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, 2023

“ 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

“ There's absolutely nothing wrong with you. ”

— Elliot Page, 2023

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

— Christopher Reeve, 1998

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

— Keanu Reeves, 2019

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

— Riz Ahmed

“ 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, 2019

“ 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 must find positive outlets for anger or it will destroy me... the highest positive is forgiveness. ”

— Sidney Poitier, 2000

“ The handicap of deafness is not in the ear; it is in the mind. ”

— Marlee Matlin

“ 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