50 Inspiring Diversity Quotes for the Workplace and Classroom

The whole concept of diversity encompasses respect and acceptance. It is about understanding that each individual is unique, and that uniqueness shouldn’t be rejected, but embraced and celebrated.

Individual differences can be along the dimensions of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientations, religious beliefs, age, status, physical abilities or other ideologies. But whatever our differences may be, we should remember that we are all human and we can find ways to coexist in a nurturing environment.

Establishing equality and inclusion has become a top challenge in every society. Teachers and parents must teach the young ones acceptance and mutual respect. In the workplace, people in management roles need to make sure that employees are given equal opportunities, equal pay and that everyone is well accepted for their differences.

We also need to educate ourselves to become prejudice-free. We have to understand that we will be able to eliminate various forms of discrimination only by building alliances across differences.

Diversity should be celebrated in order to help overcome stereotypes and encourage unity.

Here Are 50 Quotes about Diversity in the Workplace, Classroom and America

Diversity quotes for the workplace

Inclusion and fairness in the workplace… is not simply the right thing to do; it's the smart thing to do.

ALEXIS HERMAN

The business case speaks for itself -- diverse teams are more innovative and successful in going after new markets.

INGA BEALE

We know that diversity can sometimes be more uncomfortable because things are less familiar -- but it gets the best results.

MEGAN SMITH

Diversity is a fact, but inclusion is a choice we make everyday. As leaders, we have to put out the message that we embrace, and not just tolerate, diversity.  

NELLIE BORRERO

We need women at all levels, including the top, to change the dynamic, reshape the conversation, to make sure women’s voices are heard and heeded, not overlooked and ignored.

SHERYL SANDBERG (more Sheryl Sandberg quotes)

Our company needs to be something that every single employee at the company has a stake in.  

BO YOUNG LEE

Inclusion is not a matter of political correctness. It is the key to growth.  

JESSE JACKSON

A diverse mix of voices leads to better discussions, decisions, and outcomes for everyone.  

SUNDAR PICHAI

If you haven’t got the best talent you’re not going to be the best, if you’re not representing properly the available pool of talent then you’re missing an opportunity.

ALEX WILMOT-SITWELL

Quotes about diversity in the classroom

We are all different, which is great because we are all unique. Without diversity, life would be very boring.

CATHERINE PULSIFER

A lot of different flowers make a bouquet.

ISLAMIC PROVERB

When everyone is included, everyone wins.

JESSE JACKSON

The greater the diversity, the greater the perfection.

THOMAS BERRY

Strength lies in differences, not in similarities.

STEPHEN R. COVEY

Diversity is being invited to the party; inclusion is being asked to dance.

VERNA MYERS

Diversity quotes for students

Human communities depend upon a diversity of talent, not a singular conception of ability. And at the heart of the challenge is to reconstitute our sense of ability and intelligence.

KEN ROBINSON (more Ken Robinson quotes)

We can convince ourselves to do things in conjunction with one another that we wouldn’t have been able to do as an individual.

JORDAN PEELE (more Jordan Peele quotes)

Our ability to reach unity in diversity will be the beauty and the test of our civilization.

MAHATMA GANDHI

Diversity is about all of us, and about us having to figure out how to walk through this world together.

JACQUELINE WOODSON

Diversity: the art of thinking independently together.

MALCOLM FORBES

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

Diversity quotes about education

Unity, not uniformity, must be our aim. We attain unity only through variety. Differences must be integrated, not annihilated, not absorbed.

MARY PARKER FOLLETT

What is education then? If it doesn't help a human being to recognize that humanity is humanity, what is it for? So you can make a bigger salary than other people?

BEAH RICHARDS

Diversity and inclusion, which are the real grounds for creativity, must remain at the center of what we do.

MARCO BIZZARRI

Let’s stop believing that our differences make us superior or inferior to one another.

CON MIGUEL RUIZ

In the end, as any successful teacher will tell you, you can only teach the things that you are. If we practice racism then it is racism we teach.

MAX LERNER

All of us in the academy and in the culture as a whole are called to renew our minds if we are to transform educational institutions--and society -- so that the way we live, teach, and work can reflect our joy in cultural diversity, our passion for justice, and our love of freedom.

BELL HOOKS

Diversity is the mix. Inclusion is making the mix work.

ANDRES TAPIA

The child becomes largely what it is taught; hence we must watch what we teach it, and how we live before it.

JANE ADDAMS

Diversity quotes by Maya Angelou

It is time for parents to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.

MAYA ANGELOU

We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.

MAYA ANGELOU

Dignity really means that I deserve the best treatment I can receive. And that I have the responsibility to give the best treatment I can to other people.

MAYA ANGELOU

The plague of racism is insidious, entering into our minds as smoothly and quietly and invisibly as floating airborne microbes enter into our bodies to find lifelong purchase in our bloodstreams.

MAYA ANGELOU

We allow our ignorance to prevail upon us and make us think we can survive alone, alone in patches, alone in groups, alone in races, even alone in genders.

MAYA ANGELOU

Quotes about celebrating diversity

It is not our differences that divide us. It is our inability to recognize, accept, and celebrate those differences.

AUDRE LORDE

What divides us pales in comparison to what unites us.

EDWARD KENNEDY

Diversity is not how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another’s uniqueness.

OLA JOSEPH

Diversity is the one true thing we all have in common. Celebrate it every day.

WINSTON CHURCHILL

What we have to do… is to find a way to celebrate our diversity and debate our differences without fracturing our communities.

HILLARY CLINTON

When we listen and celebrate what is both common and different, we become wiser, more inclusive, and better as an organization.  

PAT WADORS

Inclusivity means not ‘just we’re allowed to be there,’ but we are valued. I’ve always said: smart teams will do amazing things, but truly diverse teams will do impossible things.

CLAUDIA BRIND-WOODY

I do think that treating everyone equally no matter where they come from, no matter who they are and what role they have, is a big key, because you never know who you’re talking to, really. So, it just makes a lot of good sense to treat everyone the same and treat them well.

ARLAN HAMILTON

Quotes about diversity in America

We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.

JIMMY CARTER

Ultimately, America's answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired.

ROBERT KENNEDY

The diversity of America is a strength of the country, and I don’t think that we use that.

STEVE STOUTE

We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community, and this nation.

CESAR CHAVEZ

Diversity of thought and culture and religion and ideas has become the strength of America.

GARY LOCKE

Diversity may be the hardest thing for a society to live with, and perhaps the most dangerous thing for a society to be without.

WILLIAM SLOANE COFFIN JR.

You know, that diversity that America has is so special. It’s starting to really become a cool thing for young people.

RUSSELL SIMMONS

America has as much diversity in peoples as it does in geographies.

TERRI GUILLEMETS