When people have points of reference that are humanizing, that demystifies difference.
If you have a problem with people living their lives and being authentically who they are, you really should go and do some soul-searching.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Being authentic is essential for personal fulfillment, and those who criticize it might need to reflect on their own beliefs.
This quote highlights the importance of authenticity and self-expression in our lives. It suggests that if someone's discomfort stems from seeing others live openly and honestly, they should take the time to evaluate their own attitudes and perhaps confront their insecurities or biases. The call for soul-searching encourages introspection and emphasizes that embracing diversity in how people express their identities enriches the human experience.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about diversity, one might use this quote to emphasize the importance of embracing individual differences.
More from Laverne Cox
All quotes βEach and every one of us has the capacity to be an oppressor. I want to encourage each and everyone of us to interrogate how we might be an oppressor and how we might be able to become liberators for ourselves and for each other.
Believing that you are unworthy of love and belonging or that who you are authentically is a sin or is wrong, is deadly.
We shouldn't demonize the woman who wears high heels and we shouldn't demonize the woman who doesn't wear high heels. We should accept all forms of comportment.
I was assigned male at birth, is the way I like to put it, because I think... we're born who we are... and the gender thing is something someone imposes on you. And so, I was assigned male at birth, but I always felt like I was a girl.
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Without dark clouds in our lives, we would never know the joy of sunshine. We can become callous and unteachable if we do not learn from pain.
By not caring too much about what people think, I'm able to think for myself and propagate ideas which are very often unpopular. And I succeed.
"Beware of the man who works hard to learn something, learns it, and finds himself no wiser than before," Bokonon tells us. "He is full of murderous resentment of people who are ignorant without having come by their ignorance the hard way."
Quality is never an accident; it is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, intelligent direction and skillful execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives, the cumulative experience of many masters of craftsmanship. Quality also marks the search for an ideal after necessity has been satisfied and mere usefulness achieved.
The one to distrust is the person who never makes a mistake, never commits a blunder, never fails in what he tries to do. Either he is a phony, or he stays with the safe, the tried and the trivial.
One thing that never ceases to amaze me, along with the growth of vegetation from the earth and of hair from the head, is the growth of understanding.