Through books and photographs, I saw a world that was not my own - and I realized that there was another world. That's why I'm concerned about education, because it helps our children see other worlds.
Bette MidlerRead
Group conformity scares the pants off me because it's so often a prelude to cruelty towards anyone who doesn't want to - or can't - join the Big Parade.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote highlights the dangers of groupthink and the cruelty that can arise from social pressure to conform.
Bette Midler expresses her fear of group conformity, suggesting that it often leads to a lack of compassion for those who are different or who refuse to fit in. This statement serves as a warning against the negative consequences of following the crowd, where individuals may become cruel to those who stand apart from societal norms.
Themes
GroupthinkConformityCrueltySocietyIndividuality
In practice
Example use cases
During a discussion on social pressures, you might share this quote to illustrate the potential harm of conformity.
More from Bette Midler
All quotes βI believe that Judy Garland's artistry was so fine. I mean, when people say: 'oh, she brought so much of her life to her music', I don't really believe that. I believe that she didn't have to. She just was a moving human being. That was her gift.
Bette MidlerRead
When I moved to New York City in 1965, I wanted to be in theater. I was following my Ethel Barrymore dream. But I was too young to be Ethel.
Bette MidlerRead
Some say love, it is a razor that leaves your soul to bleed.
Bette MidlerRead
Twenty-seven people sang 'Wind Beneath My Wings' before I got around to it. A lot of people saw the movie that I sang it in, Beaches, and what they came away with was that song. They turned to their loved ones and said, 'You know, you are the wind beneath my wings!' The song expressed how they felt in a way a simple 'I love you' would not have.
Bette MidlerRead
I wish America would spend even half as much time complaining about plastics in our oceans as we do about actresses' plastic surgery.
Bette MidlerRead
Similar quotes
Any swagger is just defense. When you're reminded so much of who you are by people - not a fame thing, but with my size, constantly, growing up - you just either curl up in a corner in the dark or you wear it proudly, like armor or something. You can turn it on its head and use it yourself before anybody else gets a chance.
Peter DinklageRead
If we must fall, we should boldly meet our fate.
TacitusRead
Better to stay alive," I said. "At least while there's a chance to get free." I thought of the sleeping pills in my bag and wondered just how great a hypocrite I was. It was so easy to advise other people to live with their pain.
Octavia ButlerRead
It's of very little importance to me that I was born gay. It doesn't make me a better athlete, it doesn't make me a stronger person, it doesn't really do anything to enhance my life. It's just something I was born with, the same as green eyes.
Johnny WeirRead
The worst possible thing ... was to lie dead in the water with any problem. Solve it, solve it quickly ... If you solved it wrong, it would come back and slap you in the face, and then you could solve it right.
Thomas Watson, Jr.Read
The cause doesn't have to be righteous and battle doesn't have to be winnable; but over and over again throughout history, men have chosen to die in battle with their friends rather than to flee on their own and survive.
Sebastian JungerRead