Geoff Blackwell > Quotes

“Two things were important to my mother. One was that I be independent, and the other – she called it – ‘being a lady’. And by that she didn’t mean wearing white gloves. She meant that a lady doesn’t give way to emotions that sap energy and do no good. Anger. Jealousy. Remorse. Those are emotions that don’t move you forward, they trap you. So ‘being a lady’ meant don’t snap back in anger, take a few deep breaths and respond in a way that helps educate people who don’t understand.”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to Be True: Ruth Bader Ginsburg: On Equality, Determination, and Service

“Something else I would say, whatever you do, whatever line of work you choose, always do something outside yourself. You’re a member of a community, you are blessed with having certain talents. You should use your education and your talent to help make things a little better for people who are not as fortunate as you are.”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to Be True: Ruth Bader Ginsburg: On Equality, Determination, and Service

“But one of the things that has made America great is its diverse population. So many different backgrounds, racial, national, religious. One should not just tolerate, but even applaud our differences, and yet join hands for the long haul. The motto of the United States is E pluribus unum, ‘Out of many, one’.”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to Be True: Ruth Bader Ginsburg: On Equality, Determination, and Service

“I had the opportunity to be part of a movement for change, so that daughters would be cherished as much as sons, and women could achieve whatever their talent and hard work enabled them to achieve. There should be no artificial barriers, no spaces women can’t enter. There were many closed doors in my growing-up years. There was a time when women were not accepted as members of the bar. There were no women judges. Very few women engineers. No women police officers. No women firefighters. No women pilots of planes. Those barriers are now, thank goodness, gone, and women can do whatever their talent enables them to do. Of course, it takes not only talent, but willingness to work hard, to make dreams come true.”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to Be True: Ruth Bader Ginsburg: On Equality, Determination, and Service

“I actually think that hopelessness is the enemy of justice.”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to be True: Bryan Stevenson: On Equality, Justice, and Compassion

“And then finally, I believe you’ve got to be willing to do things that are uncomfortable and inconvenient.”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to be True: Bryan Stevenson: On Equality, Justice, and Compassion

“An insider-outsider: I was enough of an insider to understand the people, to love the culture and to feel attached to it emotionally; I was enough of an outsider to view things through a critical glance.”
― Geoff Blackwell, 200 Women: Who Will Change The Way You See The World

“I think fear and anger are the essential ingredients of oppression, and injustice, and inequality.”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to be True: Bryan Stevenson: On Equality, Justice, and Compassion

“Work for what you believe in, but pick your battles, and don’t burn your bridges. Don’t be afraid to take charge, think about what you want, then do the work, but then enjoy what makes you happy, bring along your crew, have a sense of humour.’ From Notorious RBG: The Life and Times of Ruth Bader Ginsburg by Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to Be True: Ruth Bader Ginsburg: On Equality, Determination, and Service

“Don’t take no for an answer, but also don’t react in anger.”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to Be True: Ruth Bader Ginsburg: On Equality, Determination, and Service

“In hindsight, though, I am grateful for the challenges that I have, because it’s through challenges that we grow into our humanness.”
― Geoff Blackwell, 200 Women: Who Will Change The Way You See The World

“And so, your hope is your superpower, your hope is what allows you to stand up when others say sit down. It’s what allows you to speak when other people say, ‘Be quiet.’ It’s an orientation of the spirit. It’s not a ‘pie in the sky’ thing. This is how you stand in the face of adversity and difficulty.”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to be True: Bryan Stevenson: On Equality, Justice, and Compassion

“But ultimately, I don’t think we change the world with the ideas in our minds; we change the world when the ideas in our minds are fuelled by the conviction in our hearts.”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to be True: Bryan Stevenson: On Equality, Justice, and Compassion

“I had two years between college and law school, because my husband was called into service from 1954 to 1956. During those two years I became pregnant, and worried whether I would be able to manage a young child and Harvard Law School. My husband’s father said to me, ‘Ruth, if you don’t want to go to law school, no one will think less of you. You have a very good reason not to enrol. But if you really want to be a lawyer, you will stop feeling sorry for yourself, you will pick yourself up, and you will find a way.’ That advice I have recalled at every turn in my life. I’ve asked, ‘Do I really want this?’ If the answer’s yes, I will find a way.”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to Be True: Ruth Bader Ginsburg: On Equality, Determination, and Service

“I can, hopefully, contribute to systems and structures and ways of thinking, and acting, that eliminate unfairness, and eliminate injustice and inequality. I think that matters.”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to be True: Bryan Stevenson: On Equality, Justice, and Compassion

“But some people don’t have the privilege of dreaming because their thoughts are so consumed by survival.”
― Geoff Blackwell, 200 Women: Who Will Change The Way You See The World

“A French observer of early America, Alexis de Tocqueville, wrote that the greatness of America lies not in being more enlightened than other nations, but rather in our ability to repair our faults.x Through amendments to our Constitution and court decisions applying those amendments, we abolished slavery, prohibited racial discrimination, and recognized men and women as people of equal citizenship stature. Though we have made huge progress, the work of perfection is scarcely done. Many stains remain in this rich land. Nearly a quarter of our children live in poverty. Nearly half of our citizens do not vote. And we still struggle to achieve greater understanding and appreciation of each other across racial, religious and socio-economic lines. We sing of America, “sweet land of liberty”. Newcomers to our shores . . . came here, from the earliest days of our nation to today, seeking liberty, freedom from oppression, freedom from want, freedom to be you and me. A great American jurist, Judge Learned Hand,xi understood liberty. He explained in 1944 what liberty meant to him when he greeted a large assemblage of new Americans gathered in New York City’s Central Park, to swear allegiance . . . to the United States. These are Judge Hand’s words: Just what is this sacred liberty that must lie in the hearts of men and women? It is not the rootless, unbridled will, it is not freedom to do as one likes. I cannot define the spirit of liberty, I can only tell you my own faith. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which is not too sure that it is right. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which seeks to understand the minds of other men and women. The spirit of liberty is the spirit which weight their interests alongside its own, without bias.10 May the spirit of liberty, as Judge Hand explained it, be your beacon. May you have the conscience and the courage to act in accord with that high ideal, as you play your part in helping to achieve a more perfect union. From “Remarks at the New York Historical Society”, 10 April 2018”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to Be True: Ruth Bader Ginsburg: On Equality, Determination, and Service

“Too often, it seems the cost of our wars falls heaviest on those who play no part in them but have the misfortune to live in their midst.”
― Geoff Blackwell, 200 Women: Who Will Change The Way You See The World

“Not being afraid to fail is one of the things that is critical to leadership, and [to] making a difference in the world.”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to be True: Bryan Stevenson: On Equality, Justice, and Compassion

“And then finally, I believe you’ve got to be willing to do things that are uncomfortable and inconvenient. Change does not happen, justice does not happen, if you only do the things that are comfortable and convenient. Because we’re human, and biologically and psychologically programmed to do what’s comfortable, that means that we actually have to make a choice to do uncomfortable things. That requires some focus, and some deliberation, and a little bit of courage. But I am persuaded that that is key to how we create healthier communities. I don’t like it, but I accept it as necessary. I’ve done some research, I’ve looked for some examples where justice prevailed and equality triumphed and liberty won, and nobody had to do anything uncomfortable and inconvenient – and I can’t find any examples of that. For me, this becomes a necessary part of it. The”
― Geoff Blackwell, I Know This to be True: Bryan Stevenson: On Equality, Justice, and Compassion