Dei Quotes

“Quando gli dei vogliono punirci, avverano i nostri desideri.”
― Karen Blixen, Out of Africa

“When solving problems in business, having a diversity of perspectives ultimately yields better and more implementable solutions. And companies that are better able to solve problems are better positioned to succeed in the marketplace. So DEI is really about a business’ ability to thrive in the marketplace — it’s not about acts of charity and it’s really not even about social justice.”
― Hendrith Vanlon Smith Jr, CEO of Mayflower-Plymouth

“Ade accennò un sorriso con le sopracciglia: non abbiamo notizia di un sorriso più misterioso di quello che increspò allora la fronte del signore dei morti. Era il sorriso di colui che sa, e segnala con quel lieve cenno la sua distanza da tutto ciò che avviene.”
― Roberto Calasso, Οι γάμοι του Κάδμου και της Αρμονίας

“Cultural diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) enables the generation of visions, missions, and objectives that will allow the United States of America to build back better!”
― Robert E. Davis

“DEI Sonnet

I call it curiosity,
You call it science.
I call it integrity,
You call it defiance.
I call it contemplation,
You call it philosophy.
I call it accountability,
You call it sociology.
I call it correction,
You call it revolution.
I call it existence,
You call it inclusion.
All I see is humans
finally living a human life.
You with your brainy fancy
philosophize it as DEI.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Visvavictor: Kanima Akiyor Kainat

“Gli antichi dei saranno pure grandiosi, ma non sono né clementi né magnanimi. Sono capricciosi, mutevoli come il riflesso della luna sull’acqua, o come ombre nel cuore di una tempesta. Se ti ostini a invocarli, fa’ attenzione: bada bene alle tue richieste, sii pronta a pagarne il prezzo.”
― V.E. Schwab (Author)

“The white middle-class kids were looking forward to high school, academically and socially. The black kids and the white working-class kids had mixed feelings about the transition. For them high school meant an end to the one big happy family they had experienced in their grammar school. Because these students were a minority, they spent some time hanging out within their groups, building identity, and part of the time with the majority kids, building bridges. In high school, though, as they had heard from older siblings and friends, the black kids hung out with the black kids, the Asian kids with the Asian kids, and so on. There were big enough groups in each of these categories that identity politics often took precedence over friendship. Friendships across those lines weren’t impossible, but they were much harder.”
― Michael G. Thompson, Best Friends, Worst Enemies: Understanding the Social Lives of Children

“People in this land come from many others, and it shows in sheen of skin and kink of hair and plumpness of lip and hip. If one wanders the streets where the workers and artisans do their work, there are slightly more people with dark skin; if one strolls the corridors of the executive tower, there are a few extra done in pale. There is history rather than malice in this, and it is still being actively, intentionally corrected—because the people of Um-Helat are not naive believers in good intentions as the solution to all ills. No, there are no worshippers of mere tolerance here, nor desperate grovelers for that grudging pittance of respect which is diversity. Um-Helatians are learned enough to understand what must be done to make the world better, and pragmatic enough to actually enact it.

Does that seem wrong to you? It should not. The trouble is that we have a bad habit, encouraged by those concealing ill intent, of insisting that people already suffering should be afflicted with further, unnecessary pain. This is the paradox of tolerance, the treason of free speech: We hesitate to admit that some people are just fucking evil and need to be stopped.

This is Um-Helat, after all, and not that barbaric America.”
― N.K. Jemisin, How Long 'til Black Future Month?

“Our Filters are what we need to pay attention to, yet they are what many of us are oblivious to.”
― Sara Taylor, Thinking at the Speed of Bias: How to Shift Our Unconscious Filters

“The vital question we each need to ask ourselves is not if but when and where I am contributing to disparities in my profession, in my system, in my community?”
― Sara Taylor, Thinking at the Speed of Bias: How to Shift Our Unconscious Filters

“We think we are in conscious control and are making our own decisions when, in actuality, we aren’t.”
― Sara Taylor, Thinking at the Speed of Bias: How to Shift Our Unconscious Filters

“We mistakenly believe our cultural behaviors are the good, right, and respectful behaviors. What convinces us of that misperception? Our Filters.”
― Sara Taylor, Thinking at the Speed of Bias: How to Shift Our Unconscious Filters

“Our challenge is how to identify and talk about our differences, well, differently.”
― Sara Taylor, Thinking at the Speed of Bias: How to Shift Our Unconscious Filters

“Unless we’re interacting with a mirror all day, we are interacting across differences.”
― Sara Taylor, Thinking at the Speed of Bias: How to Shift Our Unconscious Filters

“It can feel as if we’re giving up our own values or giving in to the other person’s preferences. The reality is, it’s not giving up but adding on.”
― Sara Taylor, Thinking at the Speed of Bias: How to Shift Our Unconscious Filters

“Being in the dominant group, where the culture matches our culture, tends to lead to not only advantage, but also conscious laziness.”
― Sara Taylor, Thinking at the Speed of Bias: How to Shift Our Unconscious Filters

“Organization after organization has created a culture of, for, and by only round holes, yet they say they want square and triangle and star pegs.”
― Sara Taylor, Thinking at the Speed of Bias: How to Shift Our Unconscious Filters

“Equality applies the same rules and advantages to all in an attempt to treat everyone fairly. While used with the best of intentions, the results are rarely equal.”
― Sara Taylor, Thinking at the Speed of Bias: How to Shift Our Unconscious Filters

“The systems within our organizations continue to churn out disparities and inequities, and all too often, those charged with fixing the problem look to the wrong source.”
― Sara Taylor, Thinking at the Speed of Bias: How to Shift Our Unconscious Filters

“A lot of the pride I felt was overshadowed by guilt, and I’ve since poured over so many studies about how gifted programs mainly benefit white and wealthy students— not because they’re smarter, just because the whole goddamn system is rigged to their benefit.”
― Elise Bryant

“We all carry unseen stories under our skin. We hold identities around ethnicity, gender, ability, or religion that remain invisible and are discounted by the world around us. We wish for a sense of belonging without negotiation, explanation, or being required to somehow prove our validity. In a world of separation and division, we need to learn to be better at seeing (and believing) each other.”
― Jeanette LeBlanc