Michael Skolnik Quotes

Do ballet and play football. Sing and dance. Laugh and cry.

I am certainly vulnerable when I sit down with parents who have lost their children to gun violence. The emotion that they experience is so foreign to me that I find it very hard to say the right things.

We can live nuanced, complicated, exciting lives with no reason for limitation.

I wanted to tell stories about people who didn't have the chance to tell their own.

We must change the culture of politics first.

I think leading by example is important, as I know the next generation is watching us.

I just try to walk the walk. I try to live every day with the utmost honesty and integrity to myself and the people around me.

Go to countries where you don't speak the language. Eat food that looks like you may not like it. Read all of the holy books.

My grandmother taught me two very important lessons before she passed: hold the door for everyone and always say "thank you." That means to treat everyone the same, no matter if it is the President or a homeless mother begging for food. And never forget to thank those who have helped you, whether it is the person serving you food at a restaurant or your third-grade teacher who taught you the multiplication tables.

I will go to my grave wishing that I did more. Wishing that I didn't sleep as much. Wishing that I didn't waste so much time. Wishing that I fought harder.

When a young person is not eating three meals a day but still getting perfect grades at school, or when a young person deals with trauma at a young age yet still makes it to college, these are the things that inspire me.

Fighting for social justice is not about leaving the mainstream. It is about being right in the middle of it.

Stop the bullsh*t. Stop drawing lines in the sand like previous generations [have done].

I don't focus on the results. Put my head down, put my hoodie up, and do the work.

Let us not aspire to four-year goals but rather forty-year goals.

I have been so damn lucky to be able to do what I love my entire life. I never take that for granted.

I know our kids will be OK, as long as they listen more to their mother than to me!

I believe that it is my job to fight for the rights of others to have the same rights that I take for granted. As a white, American male, I have had it quite good. I recognize that and fight every day for everyone to have the same opportunities that I have had.

I think we have the potential to connect the world in a way that can save hundred of millions of lives. That should be our goal.

I am deeply inspired by the courage and achievements of young people who didn't have the safety nets I had growing up.