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White Quotes

Honest reflections on identity and race.

This collection gathers personal reflections on racial identity, including memories of growing up in a mostly separate community and the ongoing search for roles that were written with a different actor in mind. It connects to broader conversations in our Black quotes.

You know what I'd really like to do? I'd like to record some white Chicago jazz.

Quotes by Ahmet Ertegun

I saw 'Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs' when it came out, didn't like it too much. I found she was stupid.

Quotes by Agnes Varda

It was my mustache that landed jobs for me. In those silent-film days it was the mark of a villain. When I realized they had me pegged as a foreign nobleman type I began to live the part, too. I...

Quotes by Adolphe Menjou

Music, in its true essence, has got no language. You don't listen to anybody because he is black or white or because he belongs to a particular geographical region. You listen to him because you like what he does.

Quotes by Adnan Sami

Black Quotes

A funny thing happened to me on the way to the White House.

Quotes by Adlai Stevenson II

It's a significant question: should black people only adopt black children, and white people white children?

Quotes by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje

I have friends who are black whose families opened their arms to them when they came out; I have friends who were white where they were rejected.

Quotes by Adepero Oduye

There has got to be a way for me to have a role on TV or in film that is just as normal as any other white actor. That's what I'm trying to get at.

Quotes by Adeel Akhtar

I went in for a checkup, and when my doctor had me stand on the scale, even he was surprised. Seeing that number (which I'll take to the grave) was a turning point. I knew I needed to make a...

Quotes by Adam Richman

Black And White Quotes

For 'Breaking Bad,' people were with Walter White for 99% of that show, even though that guy is a monster.

Quotes by Adam McKay

Of course, the opposite of white privilege is not blackness, as many of us seemed to think then; the opposite of white privilege is working to dismantle that privilege. But my particular hip-hop generation proved to be very serious about...

Quotes by Adam Mansbach

In the workplace, many people become helicopter managers, hovering over their employees in a well-intentioned but ill-fated attempt to provide support. These are givers gone awry - people so desperate to help others that they develop a white knight complex...

Quotes by Adam Grant

I get messages from 21-year old white dudes who have just gotten out of an expensive college and say 'Hey can I pick your brain?' and I have nothing to say to them because A. They already have all the...

Quotes by Adam Conover

Republicans and blacks had an unlikely alliance around 'max black' after the 1990 census. By concentrating black voters in some districts, the strategy elected a record number of black congressmen in 1992. But the remaining 'bleached' districts were more likely...

Quotes by Adam Cohen

House Quotes

When I was growing up, my white friends would call me: 'Hey, Chief!' Even when I go to work now, people call me 'Chief.'

Quotes by Adam Beach

We were from downtown, so we were rapping in Danceteria, in these white downtown clubs, really. Nobody downtown was rapping. Nobody we knew was rapping. So we were like, 'We should do it.' We weren't making fun of it; we...

Quotes by Ad-Rock

Being a straight white guy in his, like, early twenties - there's some sort of thing about it. A sort of privilege, a sort of anger or something. You just say some really stupid things.

Quotes by Ad-Rock

When the white man governs himself, that is self-government; but when he governs himself and also governs another man, that is more than self-government - that is despotism.

Abraham Lincoln

I've taken so many kids out of Pittsburgh and onto the great white way in New York City right into a Broadway show.

Quotes by Abby Lee Miller

Like Quotes

Leather pants are my guilty fashion pleasure. I have at least 10 pairs in navy, red, white, dusty pink, grey, suede and black.

Quotes by Abbey Clancy

Frequently Asked Questions

What perspectives does this collection of White quotes offer?
These are genuine personal reflections on race, identity, and belonging: growing up in a Cherokee family that lived apart from white neighbors, aspiring to the kind of range actors like Denzel Washington or Jodie Foster get, noticing casual racism secondhand among friends, and a play on words about moving between very different worlds. If you're interested in complementary perspectives, our Black collection is a natural next stop.
Is there a quote about growing up with a segregated experience?
Yes — one quote recalls, "I came from a family that was pretty insularly Cherokee. We kept to ourselves - the white people were there, and we were here, and it was practically a segregated kind of thing." It's a direct, personal account of a divided community growing up.
Is there a quote about aspiring to the kind of roles typically written for white actors?
There is. One quote shares an aspiration "to find scripts written for white actors - or Jodie Foster, who reads scripts for male actors," citing Denzel Washington as an example of someone who does this. It's a thoughtful reflection on range and opportunity in acting.
Is there a quote about experiencing racism secondhand?
Yes — one quote describes it plainly: "My encounters with racism are sort of second-hand situations where I might be standing around with a group of white friends and someone makes a comment that they wouldn't make at my family reunion." It's an honest, specific account rather than a general statement about race relations.
Is there a quote that plays with the phrase 'White House'?
Yes — one quote uses wordplay to make a point about identity: "I can dine at the White House, but I can still hang at the 'hood." It's a clever line about moving comfortably between very different worlds. For a related contrast, see our Black And White collection, or our House collection for more on the word 'house.'

One entry describes a secondhand brush with a racist remark made among friends, a moment worth reading alongside our Black And White quotes, while a lighter closing line plays on the phrase White House, tying into our House quotes.