Quotes about role
page 15

Alfred von Waldersee photo
Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez photo
Vikram Sarabhai photo
Diane Abbott photo

“There is a crisis of masculinity in Britain because of the pressures rapid economic and social change have placed on masculine identity. A generation of men are in transit and unclear of their social role. They are also under pressure to live up to pornified ideals.”

Diane Abbott (1953) British Labour Party politician

Diane Abbott to warn of British 'masculinity crisis' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-22530184 BBC News (15 May 2013)
2010s, 2013

Ernesto Che Guevara photo
Sam Harris photo

“Some researchers have speculated that religion itself may have played an important role in getting large groups of prehistoric humans to socially cohere. If this is true, we can say that religion has served an important purpose. This does not suggest, however, that it serves an important purpose now.”

Sam Harris (1967) American author, philosopher and neuroscientist

There is, after all, nothing more natural than rape. But no one would argue that rape is good, or compatible with a civil society, because it may have had evolutionary advantages for our ancestors. That religion may have served some necessary function for us in the past does not preclude the possibility that it is now the greatest impediment to our building a global civilization.
Source: 2000s, Letter to a Christian Nation (2006), p. 90-91

Henry Campbell-Bannerman photo
David Cameron photo
Oswald Spengler photo
Mary Robinson photo

“It is a huge honour to take up the role as Chair of The Elders at such a critical moment for peace, justice and human rights worldwide. Building on the powerful legacies of Archbishop Tutu and Kofi Annan, I am confident that our group’s voice can both be heard by leaders and amplify grassroots activists fighting for their rights.”

Mary Robinson (1944) Former President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights

Mary Robinson appointed new Chair of The Elders, https://www.theelders.org/news/mary-robinson-appointed-new-chair-elders (1 November 2018)

Baruch Spinoza photo
Baruch Spinoza photo
Alexandra Kollontai photo

“I am still far from being the type of the positively new women who take their experience as females with a relative lightness and, one could say, with an enviable superficiality, whose feelings and mental energies are directed upon all other things in life but sentimental love feelings. After all I still belong to the generation of women who grew up at a turning point in history. Love with its many disappointments, with its tragedies and eternal demands for perfect happiness still played a very great role in my life. An all-too-great role! It was an expenditure of precious time and energy, fruitless and, in the final analysis, utterly worthless. We, the women of the past generation, did not yet understand how to be free. The whole thing was an absolutely incredible squandering of our mental energy, a diminution of our labor power which was dissipated in barren emotional experiences. It is certainly true that we, myself as well as many other activists, militants and working women contemporaries, were able to understand that love was not the main goal of our life and that we knew how to place work at its center. Nevertheless we would have been able to create and achieve much more had our energies not been fragmentized in the eternal struggle with our egos and with our feelings for another. It was, in fact, an eternal defensive war against the intervention of the male into our ego, a struggle revolving around the problem-complex: work or marriage and love? We, the older generation, did not yet understand, as most men do and as young women are learning today, that work and the longing for love can be harmoniously combined so that work remains as the main goal of existence. Our mistake was that each time we succumbed to the belief that we had finally found the one and only in the man we loved, the person with whom we believed we could blend our soul, one who was ready fully to recognize us as a spiritual-physical force. But over and over again things turned out differently, since the man always tried to impose his ego upon us and adapt us fully to his purposes. Thus despite everything the inevitable inner rebellion ensued, over and over again since love became a fetter. We felt enslaved and tried to loosen the love-bond. And after the eternally recurring struggle with the beloved man, we finally tore ourselves away and rushed toward freedom. Thereupon we were again alone, unhappy, lonesome, but free–free to pursue our beloved, chosen ideal …work. Fortunately young people, the present generation, no longer have to go through this kind of struggle which is absolutely unnecessary to human society. Their abilities, their work-energy will be reserved for their creative activity. Thus the existence of barriers will become a spur.”

Alexandra Kollontai (1872–1952) Soviet diplomat

The Autobiography of a Sexually Emancipated Communist Woman (1926)

Lori Nelson photo

“It’s funny about career choices. I had to fight to test for the Janet Leigh role in Walking My Baby Back Home. Janet couldn’t dance at the time and I could—but she was a bigger name. I also fought to get the role Piper Laurie had in Son of Ali Baba. Luckily, I lost that one. The one I didn’t want to do was Revenge of the Creature.”

Lori Nelson (1933) Actress, model

Science-Fiction was considered bottom of the barrel in those days. Of course, that’s the picture I am most remembered for. It’s very ironic!
Interview with Lori Nelson http://www.westernclippings.com/interview/lorinelson_interview.shtml

Vinod Rai photo

“We cannot do the role of cheerleaders. We strive to provide objective feedback on the functioning of the various departments of the government.”

Vinod Rai (1948) Comptroller and Auditor General of India

Vinod Rai speaking at the inaugural function of a Conference of Accountants General.
CAG: We can’t don the role of cheerleaders http://archive.indianexpress.com/news/cag-we-can-t-don-the-role-of-cheerleaders/1013949/0

Shankar Dayal Sharma photo
Zakir Hussain (politician) photo
V. P. Singh photo
Morarji Desai photo

“He played a very significant role in the state politics and held many important positions. Even before entering the political life, he had served the Government, as an upright judicial officer, for a period of twelve years. It goes to his credit that he did not compromise his principles under any circumstances.”

Morarji Desai (1896–1995) Former Indian Finance Minister, Freedom Fighters, Former prime minister

Janak Raj Jai in: Commissions and Omissions by Indian Prime Ministers, Volume 1 http://books.google.co.in/books?id=5Wrc1K0uJTgC&pg=PA216, Daya Books, 1996 P.216

James Braid photo
Chinmayananda Saraswati photo

“Swami Chinmayananda being the first person to have translated the Gita in English, played an important role in propagating this text across the world to all age groups.”

Chinmayananda Saraswati (1916–1993) Indian spiritual teacher

Sri Jayendra Saraswati, Shankaracharya of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham, in Chinmayananda spread the message of `Gita' http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2001-12-25/mumbai/27232673_1_gita-shankaracharya-swami
About Chinmayananda

N. R. Narayana Murthy photo

“Narayana Murthy is a role model for millions of Indians. An iconic figure in the country, he is widely respected and looked up not only for his business leadership but also for his ethics and personal conduct. He represents the face of the new, resurgent India to the world.”

N. R. Narayana Murthy (1946) Indian businessman

Manmohan Singh, Prime Minister of India in [Murthy, N.R.Narayana, Better India, A Better World, http://books.google.com/books?id=E5FfYJmodk0C, 2010, Penguin Books India, 978-0-14-306857-0]

E. M. S. Namboodiripad photo
Zakir Hussain (musician) photo

“I firmly believe that the primary role of the tabla is saath-sangat.”

Zakir Hussain (musician) (1951) Indian tabla player, musical producer, film actor and composer

Which is why I enjoy being on stage with Shivji (Pt Shivkumar Sharma), Amjadbhai (Amjad Ali Khan) or Birju Maharaj. I look forward to these concerts. Unlike a solo concert where I am my own boss, here I have to strike a dialogue in the music-making process. This enriches and makes me a better musician and tabla player.
Quote, I've never wanted to fit in Abbaji's shoes: Ustad Zakir Hussain

Rekha photo
Satyajit Ray photo
Rajinikanth photo
Rajinikanth photo
Rajinikanth photo
Kamal Haasan photo

“I have not seen an actor who would play the most ludicrous roles without bothering about his star image.”

Kamal Haasan (1954) Indian actor

Pratap Pothen, in “Comeback king (31May 1989)”

Jo Freeman photo

“A highly competent Bitch often deprecates herself by refusing to recognize her own superiority…. Bitches are among the most unsung of the unsung heroes of this society. They are the pioneers, the vanguard, the spearhead. Whether they want to be or not this is the role they serve just by their very being. Many would not choose to be the groundbreakers for the mass of women for whom they have no sisterly feelings but they cannot avoid it. Those who violate the limits, extend them; or cause the system to break…. Their major psychological oppression is not a belief that they are inferior but a belief that they are not…. Like most women they were taught to hate themselves as well as all women. In different ways and for different reasons perhaps, but the effect was similar. Internalization of a derogatory self-concept always results in a good deal of bitterness and resentment. This anger is usually either turned in on the self —making one an unpleasant person or on other women — reinforcing the social cliches about them. Only with political consciousness is it directed at the source — the social system…. We must be strong, we must be militant, we must be dangerous. We must realize that Bitch is Beautiful and that we have nothing to lose. Nothing whatsoever.”

Jo Freeman (1945) writer, lawyer

The BITCH Manifesto (Fall, 1968, © 1969) http://www.jofreeman.com/joreen/bitch.htm, as accessed Aug. 22, 2010 (also published as Joreen, The Bitch Manifesto, in Notes From the Second Year (N.Y.: Shulamith Firestone & Anne Koedt, 1970))

Paul Scholes photo
Elaine Paige photo

“My first singing role was as Susanna in a school production in a shortened form of Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro.”

Elaine Paige (1948) English singer and actress

I loved to sing and I was given lots of encouragement by a wonderful music teacher Mrs Ann Hill and by my parents who suggested I go to drama school.
As quoted in "Angie Davidson Interviews Elaine Paige" by Angie Davidson in lupus.org.uk http://www.lupus.org.uk/article.php?i=159 (2005)

R. A. Lafferty photo
Rani Mukerji photo
Heath Ledger photo

“Working with Heath was one of the purest joys of my life. He brought to the role of Ennis more than any of us could have imagined - a thirst for life, for love, and for truth, and a vulnerability that made everyone who knew him love him. His death is heartbreaking.”

Heath Ledger (1979–2008) Australian actor

Ang Lee, director of Brokeback Mountain. [In Quotes: Heath Ledger Tributes", http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/7204267.stm, BBC News, Entertainment, bbc.co.uk (BBC), January 23, 2008, 2008-08-23]

Samuel Alito photo
Aldo Leopold photo
John Muir photo

“John Muir has been a role model to generations of Californians and to conservationists around the world. He taught us to be active and to enjoy — but at the same time protect — our parks, our beaches, and our mountains.”

John Muir (1838–1914) Scottish-born American naturalist and author

California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, announcing http://www.sierraclub.org/john_muir_exhibit/tributes.aspx the selection of the "John Muir-Yosemite Design" for the California State Quarter (29 March 2004)

Robert Anton Wilson photo
Martin Luther King, Jr. photo

“Education does have a great role to play in this period of transition. But it is not either education or legislation; it is both education and legislation. It may be true that morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important also. It may be true that the law cannot change the heart, but it can restrain the heartless, and this is what we often so and we have to do in society through legislation. We must depend on religion and education to change bad internal attitudes, but we need legislation to control the external effects of those bad internal attitudes. And so there is a need for meaningful civil right legislation.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

Address at Cornell College, Mount Vernon, Iowa (15 October 1962) https://news.cornellcollege.edu/dr-martin-luther-kings-visit-to-cornell-college/; also quoted in Wall Street Journal (13 November 1962), Notable & Quotable , p. 18
Variant:
It is true that behavior cannot be legislated, and legislation cannot make you love me, but legislation can restrain you from lynching me, and I think that is kind of important.
Address at Finney Chapel, Oberlin College (22 October 1964), as reported in "When MLK came to Oberlin" by Cindy Leise, The Chronicle-Telegram (21 January 2008)
1960s

Jan Assmann photo
Robert Greene photo
Robert Greene photo
Robert Greene photo
Robert Greene photo
Robert Greene photo
Teal Swan photo
John F. Kennedy photo
Thomas Hylland Eriksen photo
Olivier Blanchard photo
Marilyn Ferguson photo
Annette Bening photo

“Sometimes just wanting to do a good role, a great role, isn't a good enough reason to do it.”

Annette Bening (1958) American actress

THR Full Oscar Actress Roundtable 2017, at 9 Min 19 Sec https://youtube.com/watch?v=IaZVY7O2Ku0?t=559
From interview with The Hollywood Reporter Actress Roundtable

David Hilbert photo
Jacinda Ardern photo
Jason Reynolds photo
Anthony Fauci photo

“I'd say we have a couple of people who've recovered, they've gotten excellent medical care and the specific therapy, ZMapp … may have had a role in it but we don't know.”

Anthony Fauci (1940) American immunologist and head of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases

Quoted by Reuters http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/08/21/us-health-ebola-american-idUSKBN0GL0W020140821 (August 21, 2014), regarding the Ebola virus epidemic in West Africa.

Jacinda Ardern photo
Immanuel Kant photo
William Lane Craig photo

“When I was starting in the game industry, it wasn't uncommon to be the only woman on the entire team...I always felt welcome and I never felt awkward. In my years at Nintendo, I have come to discover that when there are women in a variety of roles on the project, you get a wider [range] of ideas.”

Aya Kyogoku (1981) Video game director

March 19, 2014 Animal Crossing: New Leaf director says team diversity, communication core to its success https://www.polygon.com/2014/3/19/5526678/animal-crossing-new-leaf-diversity-aya-kyogoku

“There are side effects to hydroxychloroquine. It causes psychiatric symptoms, cardiac problems and a host of other bad side effects. [...] There may be a role for it for some people, but to tell Americans ‘you don’t have anything to lose,’ that’s not true. People certainly have something to lose by taking it indiscriminately.”

Megan Ranney emergency physician

In response to Donald Trump's statement on using the drug as treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Quoted in Ignoring Expert Opinion, Trump Again Promotes Use of Hydroxychloroquine https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/05/us/politics/trump-hydroxychloroquine-coronavirus.html (April 5, 2020) by Michael Crowley, Katie Thomas and Maggie Haberman, The New York Times.

Lee Kuan Yew photo
Dan Abnett photo
Waleed Al-Husseini photo
Jacqueline Wilson photo

“I don’t think that girls would ever have wanted a grey-haired, wrinkly writer as a role model if they were wanting to feel good about maybe being gay…I’m sure they could find much more glamorous examples.”

Jacqueline Wilson (1945) novelist

On why she never wrote a children’s or young adult book addressing gayness in “Jacqueline Wilson: 'I've never really been in any kind of closet'” https://www.theguardian.com/books/2020/apr/04/jacqueline-wilson-ive-never-really-been-in-any-kind-of-closet in The Guardian (2020 Apr 4)

Abdullah Öcalan photo

“There can be no respect for a family that is established on ignorance. In the construction of a democratic civilization, the role of the family is vital.”

Abdullah Öcalan (1949) Founder of the PKK

Source: The Political Thought of Abdullah Ocalan (2017), Liberating Life: Women's Revolution, pp.80

David Zayas photo

“I don’t have a dream role. Every role I get is my dream role. Whatever the role… I have to commit to every time.”

David Zayas (1962) Puerto Rican actor

On being open to any acting role in “David Zayas Talks 'Shut Eye' and Acting Career” https://cinemovie.tv/Interviews/david-zayas-talks-shut-eye-and-acting-career-interview in CINEMOVIE (2016 Dec 8)

Warren Farrell photo

“Your son may simultaneously feel that the male role is pressuring him to feel obligated to earn money someone else spends while he dies sooner.”

Warren Farrell (1943) author, spokesperson, expert witness, political candidate

Source: The Boy Crisis (2018), pp. 52

Samantha Akkineni photo

“I have made my fair share of mistakes. In the beginning when you are trying to find your way, you end up doing stereotypical and cliche roles, I have done all of that. I am at a stage in regional cinema where I am looking to do roles that test and push me to my limit.”

Samantha Akkineni (1987) Indian actress

"When It Comes To Bollywood, Samantha Ruth Prabhu Doesn't Want To Repeat The "Mistakes" She Made In Regional Cinema" https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/when-it-comes-to-bollywood-samantha-ruth-prabhu-doesnt-want-to-repeat-the-mistakes-she-made-in-regional-cinema-2327062. NDTV. (November 18, 2020).

Samantha Akkineni photo

“Realising just how hard it is to get a meaningful role for a heroine in the south. I haven’t signed as many films as I’d like to because there are no good roles. As disheartening as it is to say.”

Samantha Akkineni (1987) Indian actress

"No meaningful roles for a heroine in south: Samantha" https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/No-meaningful-roles-for-a-heroine-in-south-Samantha/article14985421.ece. The Hindu. (September 17, 2016).

Samantha Akkineni photo

“I am done with the clichéd heroine roles. I can’t go to work without a challenge. I want to do films that drive me, films in which I am a part of the main plot.”

Samantha Akkineni (1987) Indian actress

"Samantha: I am done with clichéd heroine roles" https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/Samantha-I-am-done-with-clich%C3%A9d-heroine-roles/article14378258.ece. The Hindu. (May 31, 2016).

John F. Kennedy photo
Henry Way Kendall photo
Joe Biden photo
Tom Crean (basketball coach) photo
Akira Kubo photo

“I can't choose any particular roles. I enjoyed all of them. I think it's very important for an actor to be able to enjoy playing many different kinds of characters.”

Akira Kubo (1936) Japanese actor

KAIJU CONVERSATIONS: An Interview with Akira Kubo https://web.archive.org/web/20060220090732/http://www.historyvortex.org/InterviewAkiraKubo.html (December 1995)

Clint Eastwood photo

“The roles that Eastwood has played, and the films that he has directed, cannot be disentangled from the nature of the American culture of the last quarter century, its fantasies and its realities.”

Clint Eastwood (1930) actor and director from the United States

Author Edward Gallafent, commenting on Eastwood's impact on film from the 1970s to 1990s
Gallafent, Edward (1994). Clint Eastwood. p. 10. New York: Continuum. ISBN 0826406653.

Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey photo

“It’s beautiful when you have the opportunity to change from a completely inward role to a very organic, present role.”

Àstrid Bergès-Frisbey (1986) Franco-Spanish actress

Astrid Bergès-Frisbey's prismatic peepers https://www.dazeddigital.com/artsandculture/article/21865/1/astrid-berges-frisbeys-prismatic-peepers (September 26, 2014)

Michael A. Blume photo

“We should not believe so much in cultures and forget about God’s role in our lives. We should always keep in mind that all good relationships and families are built on principles of love and trustworthiness.”

Michael A. Blume (1946) American nuncio

Want strong and happy marriage? This bishop gave BEST marriage advice ever! https://www.tuko.co.ke/230842-want-strong-happy-marriage-this-bishop-gave-best-marriage-advice-photo.html ()

Jamie Chung photo
John B. Calhoun photo
Michael J. Sandel photo
Miri Yu photo

“As a novelist, my job is to play a role as an endoscope to look inside of a person, while also showing him or her with an external camera.”

Miri Yu (1968) Zainichi Korean writer

As quoted in "Novelist Yu Miri: Olympics not helping Fukushima rebuilding" in ABC News (23 December 2020) https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/novelist-yu-miri-olympics-helping-fukushima-rebuilding-74877816

Prevale photo

“An intense sentimental disappointment causes a character change, in which fear takes on a fundamental role.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Un'intensa delusione sentimentale provoca un cambiamento caratteriale, dove la paura assume un ruolo fondamentale.
Source: prevale.net

Prevale photo

“In a person's life you take on a fundamental role, when you become his main detail.”

Prevale (1983) Italian DJ and producer

Original: (it) Nella vita di una persona assumi un ruolo fondamentale, quando diventi il suo dettaglio principale.
Source: prevale.net

Robert Lewandowski photo

“I remember exactly. When I was six years old, there was only one idol for me: Roberto Baggio! Alessandro Del Piero later became my role model in football, and I admired him. However, I was not yet able to judge exactly what characterizes his style of play, I was just too young for that.”

Robert Lewandowski (1988) Polish association football player

"Robert Lewandowski discusses his early footballing idols in interview with Lothar Matthäus" https://www.bavarianfootballworks.com/2021/3/17/22336065/bayern-munich-robert-lewandowski-interview-lothar-matthaus-sport-bild-footballing-idols-best-player (March 17, 2021)

Joby Talbot photo

“Every genre has its challenges. Sometimes it's harder to play a supportive role than to take center stage.”

Joby Talbot (1971) British composer

Joby Talbot: a composer's journey through Wonderland to the foothills of Everest https://bachtrack.com/interview-joby-talbot-contemporary-focus-2014 (15 October 2014)

Bowinn Ma photo

“Young women deserve a province that encourages them to take on leadership roles without fear of sexism. If we want more young women, and more people of colour to enter politics, we must commit to creating environments that respect that.”

Bowinn Ma (1985) Canadian politician

City News 1130 https://www.citynews1130.com/2020/10/12/bowinn-ma-questions-bc-liberal-party-leadership-after-sexist-comments-in-video/, City News 1130: Bowinn Ma questions BC Liberal Party leadership after sexist comments in video, October 11, 2020

Tucker Carlson photo
Tony Leung photo
Mary Elizabeth Winstead photo

“I think my drive to work has gone up a bit since I’ve gotten older. The more I work the happier I am. I’m also finding a lot more roles that are exciting and challenging for me on a more regular basis.”

Mary Elizabeth Winstead (1984) American actress and singer

"Mary Elizabeth Winstead: From Mercy Street to Cloverfield Land" in Interview Magazine (9 March 2006) https://www.interviewmagazine.com/film/mary-elizabeth-winstead

Carlo Rovelli photo
Ma Huateng photo

“Education and health care are not only commercial services, but also public and universal ones. So on top of commerce, what can we do to play our role? What can we do in terms of pension and health in an ageing society?”

Ma Huateng (1971) Chinese internet entrepreneur

"Tencent founder Pony Ma emphasises company’s investment in social value amid increasing antitrust and gaming scrutiny" in South China Morning Post (23 April 2021) https://www.scmp.com/tech/big-tech/article/3130836/pony-ma-emphasises-tencents-investment-social-value-amid-increasing

Trần Đại Quang photo

“Preventing and fighting corruption and waste is an important, urgent and long-term task of extreme difficulty and complexity. To enhance the efficiency of the work, timely detection, investigation and handling of offences plays a decisive role.”

Trần Đại Quang (1956–2018) 8th President of Vietnam

"Re-elected President Tran Dai Quang gives media interview" in Nhân Dân https://en.nhandan.vn/politics/domestic/item/4492502-re-elected-president-tran-dai-quang-gives-media-interview.html (26 July 2016)