We are all special cases.

Let’s embrace being not normal!

I’m just trying to be myself. I’m not trying to be anyone else.

Sometimes, people can be extraordinarily judgmental and closed-minded to anyone different or special, which is why it’s so hard for young people in this day and age to be comfortable enough in their own skin to not listen to the people picking on them.

Toleration is good for all, or it is good for none.

The essential lesson I’ve learned in life is to just be yourself. Treasure the magnificent being that you are and recognize first and foremost you’re not here as a human being only. You’re a spiritual being having a human experience.

Building capacity dissolves differences. It irons out inequalities.

I think everyone’s inherently snobbish. Things that are very popular are not taken seriously, because the snobbish side of one says, ‚Well, if everyone likes it it can’t be that good.‘ Whereas if only I and a couple of other people like it, then it must be really something special.

My children came out as individuals in their own right. They were not my products. They had their own characters and were very strong-minded. I gave them a lot of freedom when they were still very young. The one thing they got from me is morals. They would never betray anyone. They are really good people.

I still make sure to go, at least once every year, to a country where things cannot be taken for granted, and where there is either too much law and order or too little.

Imperfection is beauty, madness is genius and it’s better to be absolutely ridiculous than absolutely boring.

I don’t just listen to rap.

I just think overall there’s not as many female ministers than there are male ministers.

I know that a large part of my fan base is gay. They’ve shown me love from the start. I mean in this industry, everyone from my glam people to my dancers are gay. You can’t be homophobic in this line of work – I’m a pop star!

We can never obtain peace in the outer world until we make peace with ourselves.

At Sarah Lawrence, I realized that everybody was already what they were going to be. The painters were painting, the writers writing, the dancers dancing. And nobody wore any makeup. The art was uppermost.

Racism is real in this country.

I already am a product.

I think unconscious bias is one of the hardest things to get at.

All partisan movements add to the fullness of our understanding of society as a whole. They never detract; or, in any case, one must not allow them to do so. Experience adds to experience.

I loved the fact that Obama is multi-racial. I thought that was terrific, as my wife is the same racial make-up.

I never will, by any word or act, bow to the shrine of intolerance or admit a right of inquiry into the religious opinions of others.

The greater intellect one has, the more originality one finds in men. Ordinary persons find no difference between men.

Be content to seem what you really are.

My experiences at Princeton have made me far more aware of my ‚blackness‘ than ever before. I have found that at Princeton, no matter how liberal and open-minded some of my white professors and classmates try to be toward me, I sometimes feel like a visitor on campus; as if I really don’t belong.

We can learn to see each other and see ourselves in each other and recognize that human beings are more alike than we are unalike.

Lots of songs aren’t even from my experiences, but they’re about accepting… the dark things about yourself.

I am odd-looking. I sometimes think I look like a funny Muppet.

Never be ashamed! There’s some who’ll hold it against you, but they’re not worth bothering with.

Her body calculated to a millimeter to suggest a bud yet guarantee a flower.

I belong to a gospel choir. They know I am an atheist but they are very tolerant.

When you are content to be simply yourself and don’t compare or compete, everybody will respect you.

I look like a woman, but I think like a man.

We still have many neighborhoods that are racially identified. We still have many schools that even though the days of state-enforced segregation are gone, segregation because of geographical boundaries remains.

I’m a free spirit.

I see Americans of every party, every background, every faith who believe that we are stronger together: black, white, Latino, Asian, Native American; young, old; gay, straight; men, women, folks with disabilities, all pledging allegiance under the same proud flag to this big, bold country that we love. That’s what I see. That’s the America I know!

All religions must be tolerated… for every man must get to heaven in his own way.

Certain defects are necessary for the existence of individuality.

I am who I am and I say what I think. I’m not putting a face on for the record.

I myself have been on my own and utterly independent since I graduated. I haven’t belonged to any company or any system. It isn’t easy to live like this in Japan.

I’m comfortable in my own skin, no matter how far it’s stretched. Ha ha.

Many interviewers when they come to talk to me, think they’re being progressive by not mentioning in their stories any longer that I’m black. I tell them, ‚Don’t stop now. If I shot somebody you’d mention it.‘

Originality is a thing we constantly clamour for, and constantly quarrel with.

I don’t want enemies. I want friends, and I want them in all shapes, sizes, and colors, and loving whoever they want to.

I hope that people will finally come to realize that there is only one ‚race‘ – the human race – and that we are all members of it.

The time is long overdue to stop looking for progress through racial or ethnic leaders. Such leaders have too many incentives to promote polarizing attitudes and actions that are counterproductive for minorities and disastrous for the country.

I think it’s so important for girls to love themselves and to treat their bodies respectfully.

Why should we be in such desperate haste to succeed, and in such desperate enterprises? If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer.

Our goal in the ’70s was to end the closed door era. There were so many things that were off limits to women: policing, firefighting, mining, piloting planes.

Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.

Accept everything about yourself – I mean everything, You are you and that is the beginning and the end – no apologies, no regrets.

People should make up their own mind about what they think of me.

I think everybody deserves an equal amount of appreciation whether how old they are, but I mean, I’m cool with the praise. I’m good.

Here’s the thing. We do a movie with a predominantly black cast, and it’s put in a category of being a black film. When other movies are done with a predominantly white cast, we don’t call them a white film. I’m trying to remove the stigma off things they call black films.

While children are struggling to be unique, the world around them is trying all means to make them look like everybody else.

I worked with someone who told me they’d never like me. But for some reason, I just felt like I needed her approval. So I started changing myself to please her. It made me stop being social and friendly. I was so unhappy.

People make jokes about my bosoms, why don’t they look underneath the breasts at the heart? It’s obvious I’ve got big ones and if people want to assume they’re not mine, then let them.

I don’t regret anything.

Relish everything that’s inside of you, the imperfections, the darkness, the richness and light and everything. And that makes for a full life.

When I arrived, at first a lot of people were like, ‚This kid is different.‘

It’s a representation of yourself, and you can express a lot of your creativity with what your wearing.