quotes about Minorities
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The Jews are the living embodiment of the minority, the constant reminder of what duties societies owe their minorities, whoever they might be.
-- Abba Eban -
As far as I know, only a small minority of mathematicians, even of those with Platonist views, accept the idea that there may be mathematical facts which are true but unknowable.
-- Abraham Robinson -
The new nation called Nigeria should be an estate of our great-grandfather, Uthman Dan Fodio. We must ruthlessly prevent a change of power. We use the minorities of the North as willing tools and the South as a conquered territory and never allow them to rule over us, and never allow them to have control over their future.
-- Ahmadu Bello -
There are some of us who can live without wild things, and some who cannot. For us of the minority, the opportunity to see geese or wild flowers is a right as inalienable as free speech.
-- Aldo Leopold -
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Mechanized recreation already has seized nine-tenths of the woods and mountains; a decent respect for minorities should dedicate the other tenth to wilderness.
-- Aldo Leopold -
A government is free in proportion to the rights it guarantees to the minority.
-- Alf Landon -
Isn't it a characteristic of the age we live in that it has made everyone in a way a migrant and a member of a minority?
-- Amin MaaloufSource : Amin Maalouf (2001). “In the Name of Identity: Violence and the Need to Belong”, p.37, Arcade Publishing
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When you put a tiny and despised minority up for a popular vote, the minority usually loses.
-- Andrew Sullivan -
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[Her] work taught me that you could be all the traditional feminine things -- a mother, a lover, a listener, a nurturer -- and you could also be critically astute and radical and have a minority opinion that was profoundly moral.
-- Anne Lamott -
I have spent a great deal of my life being part of minorities. Some of the people I admire the most in the world have had the courage to defend, against wind and tide, minority viewpoints in those frightening times when any disagreement with universal conformity is identified as treason.
-- Antonio Munoz Molina -
I think all minority audiences watch movies with hope. They hope they will see what they want to see. That's why nobody really sees the same movie.
-- Arthur Laurents -
I'm used to being in the minority. I'm a left-handed, gay Jew. I've never felt, automatically, a member of any majority.
-- Barney Frank -
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They are a very extensive minority who have suffered discrimination and who have the same right to participation in the promise and fruits of society as every other individual.
-- Bella Abzug -
I voted for the Defense of Marriage Act but I do not believe we should institutionalize a form of discrimination against any minority by amending the Constitution.
-- Ben Nighthorse Campbell -
Discrimination has a lot of layers that make it tough for minorities to get a leg up.
-- Bill Gates -
When you're fighting for economic and social justice, you're always fighting for the minority.
-- Bob KerreySource : "Bob Kerrey Will Call Your Bullshit" by Ted Genoways, www.motherjones.com. September/October 2012.
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In the end, a small section of the crowd, maybe 2,000 to 3,000, turned against me. And that was it. Inside the club they know your best intentions, but the minority shout louder than the rest.
-- Bryan Robson -
Counterfeit tolerance includes the opportunism of one who seeks, or accepts, tolerance for himself, as a minority, but who would deny it to others if ever he should be in a position to grant it.
-- Carl Joachim Friedrich -
A minority group has 'arrived' only when it has the right to produce some fools and scoundrels without the entire group paying for it.
-- Carl T. Rowan -
People who are interested in the arts and theater are such a minority.
-- Carol Kane -
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I always say to women, 'Take advantage of the fact that you're in the minority, don't see it as a disadvantage. You're that much more unique when there's fewer of you.
-- Carol Leifer -
The reason that minorities and women dont have a better shot at getting elected to the Senate or to statewide office is because the campaign finance rules are so skewed as to make it very difficult for non-traditional candidates to raise the money necessary to get elected.
-- Carol Moseley Braun -
If you're black in this country, if you're a woman in this country, if you are any minority in this country at all, what could possibly possess you to vote Republican?
-- Cher -
A minority is only thought of as a minority when it constitutes some kind of threat to the majority, real or imaginary. And no threat is ever quite imaginary.
-- Christopher IsherwoodSource : Christopher Isherwood, Don Bachardy, James P. White (1989). “Where Joy Resides: An Isherwood Reader”, Vintage
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And one day our grandkids will ask us, 'What was it like to be a minority?'
-- Christy Haubegger -
How proud I am to be compared to Oprah. I really admire her. She's a minority woman and she's done all this by herself... I'm very happy to be Oprah with salsa and not Donahue in drag.
-- Cristina Saralegui -
Like one of any minority, I have experienced prejudice.
-- Dalia Mogahed -
Well, it seems to me Lincoln, I suppose, is kind of a model of a particular sort of presidency, a presidency that first of all is elected by a minority of the votes.
-- David Herbert Donald -
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Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid says he will not seek re-election. Harry said he wants to spend more time with his family. As I always say, check with your family.
-- David Letterman -
I think the minority students that we admit to Harvard are every bit as meritorious as the white students that we admit.
-- Derek Bok -
A venturesome minority will always be eager to set off on their own, and no obstacles should be placed in their path; let them take risks, for godsake, let them get lost, sunburnt, stranded, drowned, eaten by bears, buried alive under avalanches - that is the right and privilege of any free American.
-- Edward Abbey -
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I feel Irish-Americans are the forgotten minority group. Nobody else is making films about them.
-- Edward Burns -
I am a member of a small, nearly extinct minority group, a kind of urban lost tribe who insist, in the face of all evidence to the contrary, on the sanctity of being on time. Which is to say that we On-timers are compulsively, unfashionably prompt, that there are only handfuls of us in any given city and, unfortunately, we never seem to have appointments with each other.
-- Ellen Goodman -
The speed of movement towards independence will depend on Kosovo demonstrating that it is capable of treating minorities well. We have not always seen that.
-- Emma Bonino -
A dissenting minority feels free only when it can impose its will on the majority: what it abominates most is the dissent of the majority.
-- Eric Hoffer -
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Great numbers of Asian Americans do not fit the model minority or 'tiger family' stereotypes, living instead in multigenerational poverty far from the mainstream.
-- Eric Liu -
Fifty-one percent of a nation can establish a totalitarian regime, suppress minorities and still remain democratic.
-- Erik von Kuehnelt-Leddihn -
Armenia was always a minority nation. The Armenians were annihilated by the Russians and then by the Turks.
-- Ernst KaltenbrunnerSource : Said to Leon Goldensohn, June 06, 1946. "The Nuremberg Interviews". Book by Leon Goldensohn, 2004.
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One who belongs to the most vilified and persecuted minority in history is not likely to be insensible to the freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution... But as judges we are neither Jew nor Gentile, neither Catholic nor agnostic.
-- Felix Frankfurter -
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Niggerization is the result of oppression -- and it doesn't just apply to the black people. Old people, poor people, and students can also get niggerized.
-- Florynce Kennedy -
The meaning of this observation is unclear, but it raises the unfortunate possibility of ambiguous triplets; that is, triplets which may code more than one amino acid. However one would certainly expect such triplets to be in a minority.
-- Francis Crick -
If an action must be taken that will benefit the majority at the cost of the minority, is it morally indefensible? If an action taken for the benefit of a majority occurs at the expense of a minority, is it moral action?
-- Garth Nix -
Look at television and how comparatively few minorities are out there.
-- Gedde Watanabe -
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All progress comes from the creative minority.
-- George Gilder -
Your political system is actually too democratic. The fact that Americans vote on every bill and proposition can prolong bigotry indefinitely, especially where it is aimed at minority groups.
-- George Michael -
Being in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.
-- George Orwell -
Perhaps a lunatic was simply a minority of one.
-- George Orwell -
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"A minority of one"... the definition of insanity.
-- George Orwell -
Progress begins with the minority. It is completed by persuading the majority, by showing the reason and the of the step forward, and that is accomplished by appealing to the intelligence of the majority.
-- George William Curtis -
The minority of one generation is usually the majority of the next.
-- Gertrude Atherton -
I've always had questions about what it meant to be a protester, to be in the minority. Are the people who are trying to find peace, who are trying to have the Constitution apply to everybody, are they really the radicals? We're not protesting from the outside. We're inside.
-- Gil Scott-Heron -
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Don't let anyone call you a minority if you're black or Hispanic or belong to some other ethnic group. You're not less than anybody else.
-- Gwendolyn Brooks -
When you use the term minority or minorities in reference to people, you're telling them that they're less than somebody else.
-- Gwendolyn Brooks -
History teaches us that there have been but few infringements of personal liberty by the state which have not been justified, as they are here, in the name of righteousness and the public good, and few which have not been directed, as they are now, at politically helpless minorities.
-- Harlan F. StoneSource : Minersville School District v. Gobitis, 310 U.S. 586, 1940.
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Democracy cannot survive without the guidance of a creative minority.
-- Harlan F. Stone -
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And, even if Affirmative Action survives, it is also clear that these policies are not themselves sufficient to close the educational and employment gaps that plague U.S. minorities.
-- Harry J. Holzer -
The last thing the Province needs is a minority government
-- Hazel McCallion -
[The Democrats] will say that the Reagan administrtion has given benefits to the rich at the expense of the poor - a term that they define broadly to include middle-income people, women, minorities, the aged, the young, farmers, steelworkers, and others.
-- Herbert Stein -
If a country doesn't recognize minority rights and human rights, including women's rights, you will not have the kind of stability and prosperity that is possible.
-- Hillary Clinton -
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We cannot let a minority of people hold a viewpoint that terrorizes the majority of people
-- Hillary Clinton -
To find agreements in one's minority opinions is one of the great pleasures of reading.
-- Hugh Redwald Trevor-Roper -
Men in authority are now a threatened minority.
-- Ilana Mercer -
Candidates should be extremely cautious in displaying a sense of humor. If he or she tells a joke with a point, there is almost certain to be some minority group offended.
-- Jack Germond -
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You have fewer rights because you are a minority. Absolutely, that’s how democracy works.
-- Jacob Zuma -
One great object of the Constitution was to restrain majorities from oppressing minorities or encroaching upon their just rights.
-- James K. PolkSource : Inaugural Address, avalon.law.yale.edu. March 04, 1845.
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Minorities have a right to appeal to the Constitution as a shield against such oppression.
-- James K. PolkSource : Inaugural Address, avalon.law.yale.edu. March 04, 1845.
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Contrary to what we, the people, have been told, we are the power; we have supreme authority because we are the masses and true power always resides with the masses, never with the global elite who, by their very nature, have always been a vulnerable minority and will always continue to be...As long as the masses realize that, of course.
-- James Morcan -
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Since the birth of our Nation, no other right has been more important than having the ability to vote. Unfortunately, as history has shown, the denial of this right to minorities is a scar on our system of democracy.
-- Jan Schakowsky -
Revolutions can no longer be achieved by minorities. No matter how energetic and intelligent a minority may be, it is not enough, in modern times at least, to make a revolution. The cooperation of a majority, and a large majority too, is needed.
-- Jean Jaures -
It is unnatural for a majority to rule, for a majority can seldom be organized and united for specific action, and a minority can.
-- Jean-Jacques Rousseau -
If the minority is able to successfully undo the Affordable Care Act by blackmail, it will be the undoing of the democratic nature of our government.
-- Jerrold NadlerSource : "A Fundamental Challenge to Democracy" by Rep. Jerrold Nadler, www.huffingtonpost.com. October 7, 2013.
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The behavior of the minority warranted the sergeant at arms being called.
-- Jim McCrery -
I think you and the referee were in a minority of one, Billy.
-- Jimmy Armfield -
People are not fundamentally bad. It only takes the smallest of correctives to take care of that tiny minority that wants to disrupt the community.
-- Jimmy WalesSource : "Wikipedia Founder Jimmy Wales Responds". Slashdot Interview, slashdot.org. July 28, 2004.
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The whole of that part of Southern Africa which is controlled by racial minorities is experiencing either consistent and regular guerilla activity or is faced with advanced preparation for its commencement.
-- Joe Slovo -
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When faith in our freedom gives way to fear of our freedom, silencing the minority view becomes the operative protocol.
-- Joel Salatin -
A lot of movies were influenced by 'Logan's Run,' like 'Minority Report'. A lot of films have those elements in them.
-- Joel SilverSource : "Producer Joel Silver on SPLICE, LOGAN’S RUN, SWAMP THING, THE APPARATION, PROJECT-X, UNKNOWN WHITE MALE". Interview with Sara Wayland, collider.com. May 22, 2010.
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Jazz is not the popular culture. Jazz is in the same position in our culture as classical music. A very small minority of people really love it.
-- John CoriglianoSource : "The Gospel According To John Corigliano". Interview with Frank J. Oteri, www.newmusicbox.org. February 01, 2005.
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We should not allow a tiny minority of shoddy scientists and science and extreme ideologues to compete with scientific facts,
-- John F. Kerry -
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Given that Mr. Kerry is clearly exaggerating what happened to minority voters in the 2000 election in Florida, maybe we should wait for him to provide evidence of what he is alleging in 2004.
-- John Fund -
When I go in to see people - and I sell an occasional ad now - I never say, 'Help me because I am black' or 'Help me because I am a minority.' I always talk about what we can do for them.
-- John H. Johnson -
When enough Americans realize how rotten are the fruits of our policy of 'benign neglect,' how costly our prejudice is both in dollars and in human misery, the demand for change will be made-not for the sake of minority people, but for the sake of all of us.
-- John Howard Griffin -
Nixon in 1968, unlike Obama 2008, was elected as a minority president with only 43 percent of the vote. Yet, in 1972, he won what, in some measures, was the most lopsided election in American history with 61 percent.
-- John Podhoretz -
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Persons of genius, it is true, are, and are always likely to be, a small minority; but in order to have them, it is necessary to preserve the soil in which they grow.
-- John Stuart MillSource : John Stuart Mill, Jeremy Bentham, John Troyer (2003). “The Classical Utilitarians: Bentham and Mill”, p.200, Hackett Publishing
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I do not write for a select minority, which means nothing to me, nor for that adulated platonic entity known as ‘The Masses’. Both abstractions, so dear to the demagogue, I disbelieve in. I write for myself and for my friends, and I write to ease the passing of time.
-- Jorge Luis Borges -
George W. Bush brought a lot of minorities into his administration, which was a positive thing, and they had some issues that they wanted to press, but 9/11 really gave them direction. It gave them a purpose.
-- Josh Brolin -
I would in fact tend to have more confidence in the outcome of a democratic decision if there was a minority that voted against it, than if it was unanimous... Social psychology has amply shown the strength of this bandwagon effect.
-- Jurgen HabermasSource : "Habermas and the Public Sphere". Book by Craig Calhoun, 1993.
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Go watch (Minority Report) if you can bear Tom Cruise for that long
-- Kara Swisher -
Minority views expressed in films simply don't sell tickets.
-- Karel Reisz -
In 1989, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that minority set-aside programs in municipal contracts were unconstitutional. The court wondered if there were proof that people of color even want to receive municipal contracts.
-- Karen DeCrow -
Do you see any majority, anywhere, in this imperfect and irreligious world, admitting that the minority is precious? That any minority is precious?
-- Katharine Fullerton GerouldSource : Katharine Fullerton Gerould (1920). “Modes and Morals”
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I feel worn down as a human being who has to constantly justify their existence to other human beings because I'm a minority
-- Killer Mike -
One of the great difficulties about being a member of a minority race is that so many kindhearted, well-meaning bores gather around to help.
-- Langston Hughes -
And that is my definition of democracy, the right to be in a minority and not be suppressed
-- Lee Harvey OswaldSource : Diane Holloway, Lee Harvey Oswald, Bob Cheney (2008). “Autobiography of Lee Harvey Oswald: My Life in My Words”, p.194, iUniverse
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A minority is always compelled to think. That is the blessing of being in the minority.
-- Leo Baeck -
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Many [of the Americans] polled showed a marked disapproval of the Wallonians, Danerians, and Pirenians. The fact that these minorities were invented by the pollster did not diminish the hostility.
-- Leo Rosten -
Liberals believe they own the franchise on minorities and can't stand any Hispanic or black who breaks rank.
-- Linda Chavez -
Latinas are the fastest growing segment of the minority population, and their perspective deserves to be represented, not denigrated.
-- Linda SanchezSource : "Hispanic Caucus Chairman Denies Rep. Sanchez 'Whore' Remark Allegation" by Michael De Dora Jr. and Molly Hooper, www.foxnews.com. February 1, 2007.
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It is bad to be oppressed by a minority, but it is worse to be oppressed by a majority.
-- Lord ActonSource : Lord Acton (2016). “The History of Freedom: Great Event”, p.9, VM eBooks
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