Too Angry, Keep Your Mouth Shut, Michelle Obama

“Don't ever, ever let anyone tell you that you're too angry, or that you 'should keep your mouth shut.' There will always be those who want to keep you silent, to have you be seen but not heard, or maybe they don't even want to see you at all. But those people don't know your story, and if you listen to them, then nothing will ever change.” - Former First Lady Michelle Obama, speaking to the graduating class of 2020.

Found in Ms. Magazine, Fall 2020 issue, page 6.

Government, Silencing the Voice of Opposition, Increasingly Repressive Measures, Harry S. Truman

“Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear." - Harry S. Truman, [Special Message to the Congress on the Internal Security of the United States, August 8, 1950]”

Found on Goodreads at https://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/203941.Harry_Truman.

Never to be Silent, Always Take Sides, Neutrality, Elie Wiesel

"I swore never to be silent whenever and wherever human beings endure suffering and humiliation. We must always take sides. Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented." - Elie Wiesel

Found on Wisdom Quotes at http://www.wisdomquotes.com/authors/elie-wiesel/.

Speak, Afraid, Silent, Better to Speak, Audre Lorde

"When we speak we are afraid our words will not be heard or welcomed. But when we are silent, we are still afraid. So it is better to speak." - Audre Lorde

Found on BrainyQuote at https://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/audre_lorde_392663.

Programs, Remove a List, Words and Phrases, Funding Applications, Rep. Summer Lee

“Your agency told programs to remove a list of nearly 200 words and phrases from their funding applications, including the world Black. Do you have any idea of how we could solve the Black maternal mortality crisis if we can’t say ‘Black?’” - Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.), questioning Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on how HHS will address disparities affecting Black women.

Found in Summer 2026 issue of Ms. Magazine, page 6.

Confused, Thinking Clearly, Irene Peter

“Today, if you're not confused, you are not thinking clearly.” - Irene Peter

Found in The Last Word: A Treasury of Women's Quotes, by Carolyn Warner, page 48.

Tell the Truth About Yourself, Other People, Virginia Woolf

“If you do not tell the truth about yourself you cannot tell it about other people.” - Virginia Woolf

Found in The Last Word: A Treasury of Women's Quotes, by Carolyn Warner, page 56.