Human Diversity Quotes

• We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.

  Maya Angelou

  Color, Kwanzaa, Common Threads

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• If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place.

  Margaret Mead

  Women, History, Diversity

  Sex and Temperament in Three Primitive Societies conclusion (1935)

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• Difference is of the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore never be the source of hatred or conflict. The answer to difference is to respect it. Therein lies a most fundamental principle of peace: respect for diversity.

  John Hume

  Respect, Lying, Differences

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• In diversity there is beauty and there is strength.

  Maya Angelou

  Inspirational, Strength, Beauty

  Maya Angelou (2014). “Rainbow in the Cloud: The Wit and Wisdom of Maya Angelou”, p.9, Hachette UK

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• Since when do you have to agree with people to defend them from injustice?

  Lillian Hellman

  Women, Diversity, People

  Lillian Hellman (1976). “Scoundrel time”

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  No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.

  John Donne

  Teamwork, Men, Grieving

  Devotions upon Emergent Occasions no. 17 (1624)

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• The World is my country, all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.

  Thomas Paine

  Inspirational, Life, Wisdom

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• We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race.

  Kofi Annan

  Acceptance, Race, Skin Color

  Twitter post from Sep 03, 2016

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  Our task must be to free ourselves by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature and its beauty.

  Albert Einstein

  Inspirational, Life, Beauty

  Albert Einstein (2015). “Bite-Size Einstein: Quotations on Just About Everything from the Greatest Mind of the Twentieth Century”, p.15, St. Martin's Press

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  A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.

  Albert Einstein

  Inspirational, Beauty, Spiritual

  Letter of 1950, as quoted in "The New York Times", March 29, 1972.

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• We experience ourselves our thoughts and feelings as something separate from the rest. A kind of optical delusion of consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us.

  Albert Einstein

  Inspirational, Spiritual, Nature

  Albert Einstein (2015). “Bite-Size Einstein: Quotations on Just About Everything from the Greatest Mind of the Twentieth Century”, p.15, St. Martin's Press

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  There are no nations! There is only humanity. And if we don't come to understand that right soon, there will be no nations, because there will be no humanity.

  Isaac Asimov

  Diversity, Understanding, Humanity

  Isaac Asimov (2009). “I, Asimov: A Memoir”, p.592, Bantam

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• We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Life, Motivational, Respect

  Speech at St. Louis, 22 Mar. 1964, in St Louis Post-Dispatch 23 Mar. 1964

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• Human diversity makes tolerance more than a virtue; it makes it a requirement for survival.

  Rene Dubos

  Differences, Diversity, Tolerance

  69 Copy quote
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  Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.

  Malcolm Forbes

  Art, Thinking, Individual Differences

  66 Copy quote

• Strength lies in differences, not in similarities

  Stephen Covey

  Teamwork, Lying, Inspiration

  36 Copy quote

• We all live with the objective of being happy; our lives are all different and yet the same.

  Anne Frank

  Happiness, Happy, Soulmate

  1944 Diary entry, 6 Jul.

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• It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.

  Maya Angelou

  Strength, Educational, Teaching

  Twitter post from Jul 13, 2016

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• If we cannot now end our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity.

  John F. Kennedy

  Peace, Differences, Diversity

  1963 Speech, American University, Washington DC, 10 Jun.

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• An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Life, Greatness, Diversity

  Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (2017). “The Measure of a Man”, p.18, Pickle Partners Publishing

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• Live with the objective of being happy.

  Anne Frank

  Happiness, Happy, Diversity

  1944 Diary entry, 6 Jul.

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• I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stuffed. I want the culture of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any

  Mahatma Gandhi

  Freedom, Land, Feet

  Mahatma Gandhi (1980). “All Men are Brothers: Autobiographical Reflections”, p.142, A&C Black

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• One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings.

  Franklin A. Thomas

  Inspirational, Inspiring, Freedom

  95 Copy quote

• We need to give each other the space to grow, to be ourselves, to exercise our diversity. We need to give each other space so that we may both give and receive such beautiful things as ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing, and inclusion.

  Max De Pree

  Life, Beautiful, Healing

  Max De Pree (1987). “Leadership is an Art”, Doubleday Business

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• We have the ability to achieve, if we master the necessary goodwill, a common global society blessed with a shared culture of peace that is nourished by the ethnic, national and local diversities that enrich our lives.

  Mahnaz Afkhami

  Peace, Blessed, Diversity

  18 Copy quote