"My main concern is theater, and theater does not reflect or mirror society. It has been stingy and selfish, and it has to do better.“

-Anna Deavere Smith

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Anna Deavere Smith quote about society: "My main concern is theater, and theater does not reflect or mirror society. It has been stingy and s..."

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"I was a mimic when I was a child. I mimicked the teacher and made friends that way, actually. That was a very subversive activity, because I was a goody-goody who never got in trouble. But if I went off in the corner and mimicked the teacher, people loved it."

-Anna Deavere Smith

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"When I got out of acting school, I was lucky to have gotten any job at all. A lot of people hiring African American actresses - it was right after 'Roots,' and for society, not me, it was great. Nice richly dark-skinned people was the fashion, and I was not."

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"To live your life well, and have respect for what came before or after - there's a strong respect for that in African culture."

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"Somehow we can't live outside the politics of race. There's something very deep in all of us, that is taught to us when we are very, very little. Which is the disrespect and fear of the other."

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"Movies, as evidenced by a chorus of protesting and celebrating Americans, influence broader trends."

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"Learning is a tunnel experience that makes us think more broadly."

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"The whole system of society tells you what to do."

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"I want a society that provides decent jobs for those who can work and decent security for those can't."

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"That a society controls, to a greater or lesser extent, the behavior of its members is a universal but the methods, the particulars of that control, vary from one culture to another."

-Kenneth L. Pike

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"Europeans say they are proud of their social fabric, of strong rights for workers and the weak in society."

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"RFK was a compelling figure because he was willing to challenge his audiences, and in turn connect with them in a unique way. Kennedy showed that our values define us and can inspire others to believe in the possibility of change and a better society."

-Frances O'Grady

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"I think human society for tens of thousands of years has sent young men out in small groups to do things that are necessary but very dangerous. And they've always gotten killed doing it. And they've always turned it into a matter of honor and a way of gaining acceptance back into society if they survived."

-Sebastian Junger

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