Quotes About Belonging

People always say 'Etta, you know what your problem is? You're neither fish nor fowl. There is no place to rack you.' When I would go in a record shop, you might find one or two records by me in different stacks.

When you are part of a community for 14 years, it inevitably shapes you. I will always have a part of Ferrari beside me; a part of my heart will always be red.

I'm still a Red Bull driver. I'm part of this family more than ever.

The Ivory Coast had been begging for ages. The country and the fans love me already, and I haven't even done anything. I may not get the red carpet - it may not have the same Nike deals as when you play for England - but I'm going to be playing, I'm going to be loved, and that's all I want. Nothing else.

I knew I was Chinese, but growing up, it never occurred to me that that had any particular implication or that it should differentiate me in any way. I thought it was a minor detail, like having red hair.

I did feel funny about being fair and having red hair and freckles. I did not like that because I grew up in a neighbourhood where no one had red hair. I felt very conspicuous but not in a nice way.

We have to redefine what we mean when we say, 'Who are your people?' 'Where are you from?'

I am for sure a redhead and there aren't that many of us out there in music.

To me, redneck is a sense of self and a way of life.

People refer to me as part of the MCU, as opposed to just being this actor. Honestly, it's an honor.

I usually refer to myself as Hispanic.

I refer to myself as 'we.'

My grandparents would never admit to being Tasmanian, but I think it's really great and funny. But I guess, in the past, Tasmanians just weren't quite accepted. You had that lazy reference to them being felons.

My family, in a way, gives me a reference as to who I am as an individual, and my work gives me a reference as to who I am as a Homo sapiens. I think that's a very perfect match, in my view.

What we had on was BBC Asian Network and Bollywood sound-tracks - they were my reference points. But of course, where I grew up, I was one of two Indian guys in my school, and I didn't really have anyone else to share that with.

I started off in this business in 1998, and I didn't fit in. There was no place for me, and I always felt like an oddball. Nobody really understood my work or what I wanted to do in my references.

During his public life, Barack Obama has often referred to his biracial background and itinerant childhood and has said, 'In no other country on Earth is my story even possible.' True.

The 'Perez' in me was the outsider, the Latino guy, the homosexual, the person who stuck out, and the 'Hilton' referred to Hollywood, the mainstream.

I hang out with everyone from Long Island. I'm friends with everyone from Long Island.

Weirdly, when I'm playing an English person, I feel like I've got nothing to hang on to, and it feels a bit strange and exposing.

The popular girls let me hang out with them because I was funny. They told me that. 'You're not popular, but you're funny.' Now all my friends are funny.

I'm a reader for lots of reasons. On the whole, I tend to hang out with readers, and I'm scared they wouldn't want to hang out with me if I stopped.

Music, for me, has always been a community thing. It's always how I make friends and hang out with people, because I didn't know how to do that. This is what makes me special.

I was hanging out with no one under 21. I thought that if I really wanted to fit in I had to... show them that I was in a way just as adult as they were, 'cause I could hold my own just as well as they could, if not better.