Debbie Allen Quotes

Women are no longer being defined by where they were born or their colour. That's huge.

Having children, they're not your property. They need to figure out their own views. I think my daughters have a pretty healthy self-awareness, but I can't speak on their behalf.

Truth is, I cut my hair for freedom, not for beauty.

For me, embracing my own power is about embracing my right to be an individual.

My goal is to send a message to Muslim women and young women everywhere that it's okay to break stereotypes and be yourself.

I've been able to define who I am and my brother is able to do his thing.

Be whatever you want to be.

Diamonds aren't a girl's best friend. Freedom is.

Who knows what women can be when they are finally free to become themselves?

I'm history! No, I'm mythology! Nah, I don't care what I am, I'm free!

If we stop defining each other by what we are not and start defining ourselves by who we are we can all be freer. And this is what HeforShe is about. It’s about freedom.

When we're growing up there are all sorts of people telling us what to do when really what we need is space to work out who to be.

It's important to me to try and expose young people to the things they believe are off-limits to them. I tell them, 'There are no walls, only the ones we put up.' My advice to young people looking at my life is not to follow my footprint but to go out there and make their own.

People have to learn who they are - you can't have somebody else telling you who you are.

I love to be individual, to step beyond gender.

My idea of feminism is self-determination, and it's very open-ended: every woman has the right to become herself, and do whatever she needs to do.

I don't think of myself as Scottish or lesbian when I sit down and write. I am glad I have broken out of that limited audience.

I know where I'm going and I know the truth, and I don't have to be what you want me to be. I'm free to be what I want.

I think skating helped me find myself.

We need a place in which we may flourish and be ourselves.

L.A. is so isolated and unhip in a way; it gives you room to figure out who you are and explore more personal stuff.

The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves.

Really rejoice in being yourself. Have your own drumbeat.

In the days when I wasn't being taken seriously, I wore long skirts - very conservative. But now, I dress any way I want to.

I just want to inspire my fans to be whoever they want to be, because that's what I've always done.