Ben Schnetzer Quotes

I have struggled in life and this has made me sensitive towards the needs of others. Politics gives you the opportunity to really do something.

I don't think there was really a time when I have not been politically aware.

To me, a political song is also a personal song. Most political activism has been driven by empathy for other people and the desire for a world that's less divisive. Even if songs aren't overtly political, they can make a listener more empathetic.

My parents always went to rallies and demonstrated against certain things; my generation, we often have a political conscience, but we're not that involved.

Developing compassion for Congress and politicians is a good way to begin practicing the new social activism if you want to make effective changes in the world. Perhaps the most startling new insight of all is that there is no other way to effectively change the world.

I think the good thing about Macklemore is that he is very precise about what he gets involved in. As you can tell, he's very passionate about what he puts his name on, because he talks about things people don't usually talk about, and his concepts are very, very passionate.

I'm not an activist; I don't look for controversy. I'm not a political person, but I'm a person with compassion. I care passionately about equal rights. I care about human rights. I care about animal rights.

So we gravitated to shows and issues and causes that made people care.

I was raised on the values of speaking up and making a positive difference in a very political family that believed in the importance of public service.

I can't imagine myself outside any kind of social or political involvement.

You can't do anything that's not political in this time and age.

It is the mark of a greatly educated person to be deeply moved by statistics.

Politics should not be the least heart-filled thing we do, it should be the most heart-filled thing we do.

It's indifference and ignorance that stops people from doing the right thing.

I'm not inherently the most politically or, like, socially conscious rapper, you know? You're not just going to wake up tomorrow and be Common.

As a human being, when I see things going on in my community, I feel compelled to do something, to say something.

I think the reason I've been so committed to advocacy is because I see so many people in pain.

I remember Anthony Perkins saying, "Real is not necessarily interesting." So real is not enough. But what happens as an actor is that you're really trained to listen and to be open and have empathy. It's such a natural consequence that you end up being more political. You can empathize with the mother whose kids are going to be sent to Iraq, or you can emphasize with the mother who is losing their child to a disease. How could you not then be active? So you're automatically drawn to that aspect in the rest of your life.

A person has already made the effort once they open a paper or turn on the news. They want to know what's going on in the world around them. That, in itself, shows they care. But the problem is, most people say, 'That's terrible,' and then move on. Because they find it too difficult to look at.

You're starting to see more and more athletes recognizing their reach and how much leverage and power that they have in their celebrity and in their platform. And more and more guys are trying to use that leverage to better their communities, to better this country and are speaking out on injustice.

It's not like I have campaigns, I don't want to be an activist or anything.

When you're devoted to a greater freedom in the world, you're willing to compromise something you love.

It's good to learn and be engaged and listen to people, see what's going on. But that's not the motivator: if I was a political person, I'd have gone into politics.

Whether you have a hundred friends on Facebook or whether you're on TV or whatever, at every level, everybody has a platform. We all have a responsibility, given what's going on, to speak using that platform as much as we can, and to engage. Whether that's calling members of Congress, marching, getting involved locally, getting involved with Let America Vote, or if all you can get done during the day is you see the news and you want to make sure your hundred friends on Facebook know what you think about it, that is a really important part of this.

Today enormous effort goes into convincing the American public that we're just consumers of media manipulation and sound-bites and spin doctors. That we care only about ourselves, money, and stuff. That acting out of passion and conviction doesn't make a difference. But all history shows that it does.