101 Affirmative Action Quotes

Following is our list of affirmative action quotations and slogans full of insightful wisdom and perspective about affirmative action status.

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Famous Affirmative Action Quotes

If you don't like affirmative action, what is your plan to guarantee a level playing field of opportunity? — Maynard Jackson

Affirmative action was designed to keep women and minorities in competition with each other to distract us while white dudes inject AIDS into our chicken nuggets. — Tracy Morgan

Here's the point - you're looking at affirmative action, and you're looking at marijuana. You legalize marijuana, no need for quotas, because really, who's gonna wanna work? — Jon Stewart

But even race-neutral policies and recruitment efforts designed to achieve greater diversity are, in the end, not race neutral. — Adam Schiff

The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race. — John Roberts

Inclusion and fairness in the workplace . . . is not simply the right thing to do; it's the smart thing to do. — Alexis Herman

Those who believe in equality of outcomes receive top-paying administrative jobs. Those who believe in meritocracy are frowned upon. — Gad Saad

Equal opportunity means everyone will have a fair chance at being incompetent. - Laurence J. Peter

Equal opportunity means everyone will have a fair chance at being incompetent. — Laurence J. Peter

Enable every woman who can work to take her place on the labour front, under the principle of equal pay for equal work. — Mao Zedong

In order to get beyond racism, we must first take account of race. There is no other way. And in order to treat some persons equally, we must treat them differently. — Harry A. Blackmun

Let diversity not be the goal, but a byproduct of actually selecting the best person for the job. — Vivek Ramaswamy

A girl should not expect special privileges because of her sex, but neither should she "adjust" to prejudice and discrimination. — Betty Friedan

If you're going to equalize the academic playing field, you've got to get the kids in early childhood programs. — Paul Vallas

Education is the key to opportunity in our society, and the equality of educational opportunity must be the birthright of every citizen. — Lyndon B. Johnson

The standard progressive approach of the moment is to mix color-conscious moral invective with color-blind public policy. — Ta-Nehisi Coates

Short Affirmative Action Quotes

  • Equal rights for all, special privileges for none — Thomas Jefferson
  • ERA means abortion funding, means homosexual privileges, means whatever else. — Phyllis Schlafly
  • America preaches integration and practices segregation. — Malcolm X
  • When people get used to preferential treatment, equal treatment seems like discrimination. — Thomas Sowell
Affirmative action quote One day, you will wake up and there won't be any more time to do the thing you've always wanted. Do
One day, you will wake up and there won't be any more time to do the thing you've always wanted. Do it now.

Our Actions Quotes

Since everything is a reflection of our minds, everything can be changed by our minds. — Buddha

They deceive themselves who believe that union with God consists in ecstasies or raptures, and in the enjoyment of Him. For it consists in nothing except the surrender and subjection of our will - with our thoughts, words and actions - to the will of God. — Teresa of Avila

Existence is movement. Action is movement. Existence is defined by the rhythm of forces in natural balance. (...) It is our appreciation for dance that allows us to see clearly the rhythms of nature and to take natural rhythm to a plane of well-organised art and culture. — Rudolf von Laban

Affirmative action quote Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tip
Sometimes the smallest step in the right direction ends up being the biggest step of your life. Tip top if you must, but take the step.

We can begin by doing small things at the local level, like planting community gardens or looking out for our neighbors. That is how change takes place in living systems, not from above but from within, from many local actions occurring simultaneously. — Grace Lee Boggs

Our love should not be just words and talk; it must be true love, which shows itself in action. — John the Apostle

We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men; and among those fibers, as sympathetic threads, our actions run as causes, and they come back to us as effects. — Henry Melvill

Affirmative action quote It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things
It had long since come to my attention that people of accomplishment rarely sat back and let things happen to them. They went out and happened to things.

Our words reveal our thoughts; our manners mirror our self-esteem; our actions reflect our character; our habits predict the future. — William Arthur Ward

Realizing that our actions, feelings and behaviour are the result of our own images and beliefs gives us the level that psychology has always needed for changing personality. — Maxwell Maltz

Our path to Palestine will not be covered with a red carpet or with yellow sand. Our path to Palestine will be covered with blood... In order that we may liberate Palestine, the Arab nation must unite, the Arab armies must unite, and a unified plan of action must be established. — Gamal Abdel Nasser

If you want to be respected for your actions, then your behavior must be above reproach. If our lives demonstrate that we are peaceful, humble, and trusted, this is recognized by others. — Rosa Parks

Action Quotes

You may never know what results come of your actions, but if you do nothing, there will be no results. — Mahatma Gandhi

Revolutions are brought about by men, by men who think as men of action and act as men of thought. — Kwame Nkrumah

We must reject the idea that every time a law's broken, society is guilty rather than the lawbreaker. It is time to restore the American precept that each individual is accountable for his actions. — Ronald Reagan

Affirmative action quote Sometimes there is no next time, no time-outs, no second chances. Sometimes it's now or never.
Sometimes there is no next time, no time-outs, no second chances. Sometimes it's now or never.

Every time you smile at someone, it is an action of love, a gift to that person, a beautiful thing. — Mother Teresa

The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions. - Confucius

The superior man is modest in his speech, but exceeds in his actions. — Confucius

If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader. — John Quincy Adams

Affirmative action quote Self-control is strength. Calmness is mastery. You have to get to a point where your mood doesn't sh
Self-control is strength. Calmness is mastery. You have to get to a point where your mood doesn't shift based on the insignificant actions of someone else. Don't allow others to control the direction of your life. Don't allow your emotions to overpower your intelligence.

A child’s greatest achievements are possible in play, achievements that tomorrow will become her basic level of real action. — Lev S. Vygotsky

Watch your thoughts, they become words. Watch your words, they become actions. Watch your actions, they become habit. — Lao Tzu

The most reliable way to predict the future is to create it. — Abraham Lincoln

Right action is better than knowledge; but in order to do what is right, we must know what is right. — Charlemagne

Affirmation Quotes

Affirming words from moms and dads are like light switches. Speak a word of affirmation at the right moment in a child's life and it's like lighting up a whole roomful of possibilities. — Gary Smalley

When I ran I was a first candidate to talk about how immigration was going be so damaging to the American people. When I first ran I talked about affirmative-action. — David Duke

Everything you do and every word you say can become a ministering seed. You can be a blessing to everyone with whom you come in contact. — Kenneth Copeland

Affirmative action quote Success doesn't come from what you do occasionally, but what you do consistently.
Success doesn't come from what you do occasionally, but what you do consistently.

I believe unconditionally in the ability of people to respond when they are told the truth. We need to be taught to study rather than believe, to inquire rather than to affirm. — Septima Poinsette Clark

True community is based on upon equality, mutuality, and reciprocity. It affirms the richness of individual diversity as well as the common human ties that bind us together. — Pauli Murray

Watch your manner of speech if you wish to develop a peaceful state of mind. Start each day by affirming peaceful, contented and happy attitudes and your days will tend to be pleasant and successful. — Norman Vincent Peale

Affirmative action quote It is the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep convi
It is the repetition of affirmations that leads to belief. And once that belief becomes a deep conviction, things begin to happen.

The point of my work is to show that culture and education arent simply hobbies or minor influences. They are hugely important in the affirmation of differences between groups and social classes and in the reproduction of those differences. — Pierre Bourdieu

Jesus rejected hatred because he saw that hatred meant death to the mind, death to the spirit, and death to communion with his Father. He affirmed life; and hatred was the great denial. — Howard Thurman

To a brave man, good and bad luck are like his left and right hand. He uses both. — St. Catherine of Siena

Affirmation without discipline is the beginning of delusion. - Jim Rohn

Affirmation without discipline is the beginning of delusion. — Jim Rohn

All Talk No Action Quotes

The highest state of meditation is Samadhi, where there is no ego anymore, no doubts, no me, no you, no notion of time, no eating, no talking, no walking, no working and not doing anything at all, realizing that the Self is action-less. — Dharma Mittra

All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad. — Donald Trump

People are tired of seeing politicians as all talk and no action. — Donald Trump

Affirmative action quote Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you’ll be criticized anyways.
Do what you feel in your heart to be right, for you’ll be criticized anyways.

With Hillary Clinton, it's all talk and no action. — Donald Trump

[Hillary Clinton] is typical politician. All talk, no action. — Donald Trump

I want to be more like the ocean... no talk and all action. — Perry Farrell

Affirmative action quote No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.
No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.

I've been dealing with politicians all my life. They are all talk, no action. — Donald Trump

People Writing About Affirmative Action

Name Quotes Likes
Read quotes by Tracy Morgan

Tracy Morgan
quotes on life, education and leadership

112 212
Read quotes by Jon Stewart

Jon Stewart
quotes on education, politics and leadership

494 2329
Read quotes by Adam Schiff

Adam Schiff

66 362
Read quotes by John Roberts

John Roberts

25 153
Read quotes by Alexis Herman

Alexis Herman
quotes on education, leadership and religion

14 143
Read quotes by Gad Saad

Gad Saad
quotes on happiness, evolutionary psychology and education

138 83

More Affirmative Action Quotes

The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to speak openly and candidly on the subject of race, and to apply the Constitution with eyes open to the unfortunate effects of centuries of racial discrimination. — Sonia Sotomayor

Affirmative action quote The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm but
The world is not dangerous because of those who do harm but because of those who look at it without doing anything.

What we call diversity -- in the extreme. In other words, affirmative action programs for every conceivable category of humanity that the left wants to come up with, whether it's someone who is a gender neutral or homosexual or whatever else, the left loves to put us into categories and push this. And the people that went along with it and said,' sure, let's put women into the combat forces. Let's have women everywhere.' Let's do whatever we want to do. We're going to create this brave new world where everyone is the same. There are no differences, nothing matters. So I think that's where we are. — Douglas Macgregor

Affirmative action quote A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.
A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle.

I am a product of affirmative action. I am the perfect affirmative action baby. I am Puerto Rican, born and raised in the south Bronx. My test scores were not comparable to my colleagues at Princeton and Yale. Not so far off so that I wasn't able to succeed at those institutions. — Sonia Sotomayor

More consequences for thought and action follow the affirmation or denial of God than from answering any other basic question. — Mortimer Adler

I have affirmed that cooperation between the State's bodies is the basis of any successful national action and the optimal method for achievement to meet development aspirations desired by the country's people, in line with the democratic path. — Nawaf Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah

Your actions are living affirmations of what you say you believe and feel. ‘Affirmative action’ is when your actions are in congruence with your beliefs & feelings. You’re doing it to make YOU welcome. — Derek Rydall

Modern man believes he is fruitful and productive when his ego is aggressively affirmed, when he is visibly active, and when his action produces obvious results. — Thomas Merton

It is important to understand that the system of advantage is perpetuated when we do not acknowledge its existence. — Beverly Daniel Tatum

Doing Good is a simple and universal vision. A vision to which each and every one of us can connect and contribute to its realisation. A vision based on the belief that by doing good deeds, positive thinking and affirmative choice of words, feelings and actions, we can enhance goodness in the world. — Shari Arison

Action eradicates fear. No matter what you fear,--- positive, self-affirming action can diminish or completely cancel that which you are fearful of. — Mark Victor Hansen

Affirmative action has a negative effect on our society when it means counting us like so many beans and dividing us into separate piles. — John Kasich

There's a lot of Americans, black and white, who think that we've arrived where we need to be and nothing else needs to be done and affirmative action needs to be dismantled. — Spike Lee

There are cultural biases built into testing, and that was one of the motivations for the concept of affirmative action - to try to balance out those effects. — Sonia Sotomayor

Remember the vast majority of the Democrats as well as all the Republicans in the House of Representatives in Louisiana voted for my signature-piece of legislation in the house which was a bill, actually a bill for true civil rights. That there must be no discrimination against anyone on the basis of race in affirmative-action. — David Duke

Affirmative action is a little like the professional football draft. The NFL awards its No. 1 draft choices to the lowest-ranked team in the league. It doesn't do this out of compassion or guilt. It's done for mutual survival. They understand that a league can only be as strong as its weakest team. — J. C. Watts

White men in Europe and the US are the beneficiaries of the single greatest affirmative action program in the history of the world; it is called the history of the world. — Michael Kimmel

Affirmative action was never meant to be permanent, and now is truly the time to move on to some other approach. — Susan Estrich

The third fallacy is that affirmative action doesn't work. — Harold Washington

I'm not one that believes that affirmative action should be based on one's skin color or one's gender, I think it should be done based on one's need, because I think if you are from a poor white community, I think that poor white kid needs a scholarship just as badly as a poor black kid. — J. C. Watts

What is so remarkable about the success of affirmative action is that it has been accomplished despite the Justice Department and the policies of the federal government. — Harold Washington

Affirmative action works but we're going to need to muster all our political resources if we are to keep it in place. — Harold Washington

My views on everything from welfare to a balanced budget to affirmative action can be traced to what Buddy and Helen Watts taught me as a young boy growing up poor but proud in Eufaula. — J. C. Watts

I am an affirmative action hire. — Anna Quindlen

No matter how accomplished we may be, just any little white person can come up and say, 'Well, you wouldn't be here, if it weren't for Affirmative Action.' You put power in white people's hands, and then they use it against you. It's a trick bag. — Shelby Steele

If affirmative action means what I just described, what I'm for, then I'm for it. — George W. Bush

Preferential affirmative action patronizes American blacks, women, and others by presuming that they cannot succeed on their own. Preferential affirmative action does not advance civil rights in this country. — Alan Keyes

I think there are some things ... that may even be distorted in the practice, such as some affirmative action programs becoming quota systems. And I'm old enough to remember when quotas existed in the United States for the purpose of discrimination, and I don't want to see that happen again. — Ronald Reagan

Love is a verb. Love – the feeling – is the fruit of love, the verb. So love her. Sacrifice. Listen to her. Empathize. Appreciate. Affirm her. — Stephen Covey

I had no need to apologize that the look-wider, search-more affirmative action that Princeton and Yale practiced had opened doors for me. That was its purpose: to create the conditions whereby students from disadvantaged backgrounds could be brought to the starting line of a race many were unaware was even being run. — Sonia Sotomayor

I regard affirmative action as pernicious - a system that had wonderful ideals when it started but was almost immediately abused for the benefit of white middle-class women. — Camille Paglia

You can't be a minority in this society without having someone express disapproval about affirmative action. — Sonia Sotomayor

When I call myself an affirmative action baby, I'm talking about the essence of what affirmative action was when it started. — Sonia Sotomayor

Those in blue suits who use thinly veiled race symbols -- when they say welfare and crime and three strikes and anti- affirmative action -- they are sending messages more profound their language. — Jesse Jackson

White men in North America are the beneficiaries of the single biggest affirmative action program in world history. It's called world history. — Michael Kimmel

Well, certainly one of the ironies of the success of affirmative action is that the middle class within the black community no longer lives within 'black community' by and large. — Henry Louis Gates

We have to think about affirmative action and craft it in such a way where some of our children, who are advantaged, aren't getting more favorable treatment than a poor white kid who struggled more. — Barack Obama

Affirmative action is an effort to include every aspect of society in the decision making. — Andrew Young

You know, I love all kinds of activism. I certainly think blacks deserve to have something whether it is affirmative action or an opportunity that should be opened up to them. But at the same time I believe that people of color are not the only poor people in America and all over the world. — Russell Simmons

The government can back up its tastes and beliefs with the police power. That is why it cannot be permitted tastes and beliefs. Most emphatically, it cannot be permitted to define one group as being privileged over another group of people. It was wrong in the days of Jim Crow; it is wrong in the days of affirmative action. — Charles A. Murray

[A]ffirmative action in the United States has made blacks. . .who have largely lifted themselves out of poverty, look like people who owe their rise to affirmative action and other government programs. — Thomas Sowell

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