Quotes About Diversity

As far as stand-ups go, I always loved Richard Pryor, Chris Rock, and Sinbad. Basically, I love black comedians because they're the funniest. I wish I were a black comedian, actually.

My wish is for gay to become less of a label, and more of just one of many great colors in the collective box of humanity.

I always had this idea that, 'Sure, I wished I was a boy and felt more like a boy and all of that.' But I wasn't, so I would deal with it. And I for some reason thought there were other lesbians that felt that way and that was just part of that community.

Because my parents are Muslim, there's no doubt they wished I would marry someone Muslim.

I guess we'd be living in a boring, perfect world if everybody wished everybody else well.

I never wished my parents were normal, because they were unique, special and fabulous.

Jews have never, ever, ever wished to be separate, unless they were forced to be.

There are about 15 million Muslims in the EU. They face ignorance, insult and even persecution. They cannot be wished away. To impose Enlightenment freedoms is self-defeating. Anyway, the Muslims have their own enlightenment.

The ideal is a world in which every woman and girl can create the kind of life she wishes to lead, unconstrained by harmful norms and stereotypes.

I think that because human difference for so long, in all its various forms, has been the root of so much oppression, sometimes there's the impulse to say let's deny the difference, as though by wishing away the difference we can then wish away the oppression.

Like I went out to a predominantly black club last night and nobody said anything and I was wishing somebody would so that someone would dance with me.

I would never come out and say I was gay, because I'm not gay. And there's part of me that kind of wishes I was gay, and I think that that comes from anybody who is constantly wishing they were in the minority, you know, and constantly wants to be kind of fighting everybody off, you know?

Wishing there were more children's books like 'The Snowy Day' is a bit like wishing there were more grownup books like 'Anna Karenina.' There are only so many masterpieces out there.

Disability is articulated as a struggle, an unnecessary burden that one must overcome to the soundtrack of a string crescendo. But disabled lives are multi-faceted - brimming with personality, pride, ambition, love, empathy, and wit.

Many gays have a good sense of humour and they like the wit I hopefully put into my performances.

I think with Blair Witch and The Sixth Sense, people are much more open to something that is different.

I keep waiting for someone to cast me as the angel or the witch or the immortal of some kind because so much of the reading I do for my own pleasure is fantasy, horror, or sci-fi.

To me, if you can do the Wicked Witch live, you can play anybody.

I know more girls than boys who are Harry Potter fans, so there is no reason why there shouldn't be more boys than girls who love 'The Worst Witch!'

I love playing an old witch or a young boy. When I was younger, I would always volunteer to play the male lead.

I teach 18- to 21-year-olds - the 'Harry Potter' generation. They grew up as voracious readers, reading books in this exploding genre. But at some point, I would love for them to give Umberto Eco or A.S. Byatt a try. I hope 'A Discovery of Witches' will serve as a kind of stepping-stone.

We have several million Muslims in France who are mostly moderates or non-practicing. If they feel that it is the only subject in public debate, they won't feel at home and will be tempted to withdraw to their communities.

I don't think there's much tolerance for people who are a little different or withdrawn or quiet. They always seem to be the ones who stick out the most, the ones who want to just shy away and withdraw.

White fragility doesn't always manifest in overt ways; silence and withdrawal are also functions of fragility.