Quotes About Representation

It's easy to dislike the few senior women out there. What if women were half the positions in power? It would be harder to dislike all of them.

Women are not making it to the top. A hundred and ninety heads of state nine are women. Of all the people in parliament in the world, thirteen per cent are women. In the corporate sector, women at the top - C-level jobs, board seats - tops out at fifteen, sixteen per cent.

I never thought a basketball shoe would be named after a woman, let alone me.

A rose may be a rose may be a rose; but not this one. Clearly it stands for something more.

I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud; I am not the candidate of the women's movement of this country, although I am a woman and I am equally proud of that. I am the candidate of the people of America. And my presence before you now symbolizes a new era in American political history.

The next time a woman of whatever color, or a dark-skinned person of whatever sex aspires to be president, the way should be a little smoother because I helped pave it

Some fine men are in Congress, too few, trying to do a responsible job. But they are surrounded and almost neutralized by a greater number whose instinct is to make a deal before they make a decision.

If they don't give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair

It is going to have to be the have-nots — the blacks, browns, reds, yellows, and whites who do not share in the good life that most Americans lead — who somehow arouse the conscience of the nation and thus create a conscience in the Congress. My role, as I see it, is to help them do so, working outside of Washington, perhaps, as much as inside it.

Unless nominees are chosen democratically, with the widest possible participation in the process, nothing else really matters.

That I am a national figure because I was the first person in 192 years to be at once a congressman, black, and a woman proves, I would think, that our society is not yet either just or free.

I did this [ran for president as a democrat instead of third party] because I feel that the time for tokenism and symbolic gestures is past. Women need to plunge into the world of politics and battle it out toe to toe on the same ground as male counterparts. (From Voices of Multicultural America)

Gruffly, he cleared his throat. 'Don't take this as a blanket approval of your tactics, Sarah, but if I'm ever unfortunate enough to get in trouble with the law, I want you to represent me.' Before I could respond to this startling and totally out-of-the-blue compliment, he opened the door and was nudging me inside. I caught a quick glance of his face before he walked off toward the dining room. He was actually blushing!

Perhaps it is true that a representation of only the female side of things - which tends to be one long protest and complaint rather than the portrayal of a full and substantive existence - is limited. But an equally relevant question, one much less frequently asked, is: Is it more limited than the prevailing male view of things, which when not taken as absolute truth - is at least seen as "serious," relevant and important?

Every story I write starts with a dilemma or a theme. Once I am convinced that this is the issue that is perturbing my thoughts, I start to look for characters capable of representing it.

I think as a young actress, it's very rare that you read something where you're not either 'the girl' or there to serve some romantic purpose in a male dominated cast.

Blackness is not just black straight men. There are gay men in this work doing amazing work. There are queer folks. There are trans folks. There are gay and lesbian folks, bisexual…. There are atheist black people.

Thoughts are strange things. they have 'representational' powers: a thought typically represents the world as being one way or another. A sensation, by contrast, seems to just sit there.

Clubs are all about winning. National teams, however, have an additional function: to incarnate the nation.

It's sad to say, but it is much easier selling, for example, a crap Brazilian than a brilliant Mexican. The Brazilian gets across the image of happiness, party, carnival. Irrespective of talent, it is very seductive to have a Brazilian in your team.

Representation of the world, like the world itself, is the work of men they describe it from their own point of view, which they confuse with the absolute truth.

Representation of the world, like the world itself, is the work of men; they describe it from their own point of view, which they confuse with absolute truth.

He who speaks on behalf of people he leads, is a great leader.

An ambassador is an honest man sent abroad to lie for his country.