Quotes about Identity

Artists should be free to create what we want. I believe there's a special value in work that is a reflection of oneself as opposed to interpretation. When I see a film or a TV show about black people not written by someone who's black, it's an interpretation of that life.

At twelve I looked like a girl of seventeen. My body was developed and shapely. I still wore the blue dress and the blouse the orphanage provided. They made me look like an overgrown lummox.

Boston is so laced with jerseys that you can be dressed head to toe in team apparel and no one will look twice.

As long as you want to please everyone, you won't please anyone.

If we're really honest with ourselves, most of us will admit that we want to impress people, and this is what's causing us to do what we do.

I once wanted to prove myself by being a great actress. Now I want to prove that I'm a person. Then maybe I'll be a great actress.

I will write on the pages of history what I want them to say. I will be myself. I will speak my own name.

I don't think there is much history can say about me. I just want to be remembered as part of that collective.

Life isn't just about what you can have; it's about what you have to give, what kind of person do you want to be?

We are Americans, speaking the same language, adopting the same customs, holding the same general opinions... and shall rise and fall with Americans.

You don't need to do anything to be loved by the right people.

When you show up with nothing and discover that you're loved because of who you are—that's when you realize what it means to be a son of God... It's pretty breathtaking...