“We know who we are. People cling to these firm ideas [about gender] because it makes people feel safe. But if we could just celebrate all the wonderful complexities of people, the world would be such a better place.”

—  Ellen Page

Elliot Page Is Ready for This Moment https://time.com/5947032/elliot-page/, 16 March 2021
2021

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update Sept. 16, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "We know who we are. People cling to these firm ideas [about gender] because it makes people feel safe. But if we could …" by Ellen Page?
Ellen Page photo
Ellen Page 15
Canadian actress 1987

Related quotes

“Some people become cops because they want to make the world a better place, some people become vandals because they want to make the world a better looking place.”

Banksy pseudonymous England-based graffiti artist, political activist, and painter

Banksyhttp://newsvote.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/2018739.stm
Variant: Some people want to make the world a better place. I just wanna make the world a better-looking place. If you don't like it, you can paint over it!
Source: Wall and Piece (2005)

Stephen Chbosky photo

“And we could all sit around and wonder and feel bad about each other and blame a lot of people for what they did or didn’t do or what they didn’t know. I don’t know. I guess there would always be someone to blame.”

Stephen Chbosky book The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Source: The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Jodi Picoult photo

“It seems to me that no matter what religion you subscribe to, acts of kindness are the stepping-stones to making the world a better place--because we become better people in it.”

Jodi Picoult Change of Heart

Source: Change of Heart

Rosa Parks photo

“I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.”

Rosa Parks (1913–2005) African-American civil rights activist
Mata Amritanandamayi photo

“We often hear people indignantly asking others, “Don’t you know who I am?” But if, instead, we could just ask ourselves, “Do I know who I am?” and perform sincere self-inquiry, we could find a permanent solution to all of life’s problems. Tragically, our approach to education is lopsided. We spend our entire lives trying to learn everything about the external world and the lives of other people, yet we never try to learn about ourselves, the inner world.”

Mata Amritanandamayi (1953) Hindu spiritual leader and guru

Amritanandamayi's Address Upon Receiving an Honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters from the State University of New York (2010)

Lionel Richie photo

“You know sometimes I sit and wonder
Just how this world would be
If we had all the people laughing
And everybody living in harmony.
We'd have to say se la se la.
Talking to the people se la, se la.”

Lionel Richie (1949) American singer-songwriter, musician, record producer and actor

Se La, co-written with Greg Phillinganes.
Song lyrics, Dancing on the Ceiling (1986)

Margaret Cho photo

“Playing it safe is not productive for anyone, because safety requires gays and lesbians to be invisible, and the inhumanity engendered by making people invisible is anything but safe, rather, it puts us all in danger. When we are banned from the places we should be welcomed, where we should not only be allowed but encouraged to speak, where should we go then?”

Margaret Cho (1968) American stand-up comedian

From Her Books, I Have Chosen To Stay And Fight, SPEAKING UP

Mirza Masroor Ahmad photo

“All people and all organisations must collectively endeavour to uphold Human Values, and strive to make the world in which we live a better and far more harmonious place.”

Mirza Masroor Ahmad (1950) spiritual leader of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community

Others

Margaret Thatcher photo

“Do you know, one of the greatest problems of our age is that we are governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas? Now, thoughts and ideas, that interests me.”

Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician

Variant: Do you know that one of the great problems of our age is that we are governed by people who care more about feelings than they do about thoughts and ideas.
Source: Margaret Thatcher

Jericho Brown photo

“A metaphor is a sign of desperation when we need another world to describe what we are feeling. Metaphors are about desperation and safety. We call out to metaphor because a metaphor makes us feel safe.”

Jericho Brown (1976) American writer

On how he employs metaphors in “Jericho Brown: ‘Poetry is a veil in front of a heart beating at a fast pace” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/jul/28/jericho-brown-book-interview-q-and-a-new-testament-poetry in The Guardian (2018 Jul 28)

Related topics