Top Diversity Quotes

Academics have looked at the way we make decisions, and the results are in: the more diverse the group, the better the outcome. Outsiders bring fresh perspectives that lead to new insights. 

WBE Canada celebrates and supports diversity. We believe that large corporations and government organizations need not only internal D&I (diversity and inclusion) efforts to improve team collaboration and performance, but also need to look externally at how they procure their products and services and embark on a journey towards procurement diversification – to ensure that diverse businesses are involved at all levels of product and service development. 

Following are some of our favourite diversity quotes to get you inspired or help you communicate the message of diversity in your organization. And of course, if you are looking for help diversifying your supplier base, we are an email or phone call away. Click here to learn about our Corporate Membership and how we can support your initiatives.  

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

Diversification is the hallmark of an investment portfolio, and the same holds true in networking and relationship management. ~ Jacqueline Whitmore

As a source of exchange, innovation and creativity, cultural diversity is as necessary for humankind as biodiversity is for nature. In this sense, it is the common heritage of humanity and should be recognised and affirmed for the benefit of present and future generations. ~ Article 1, UNESCO Universal Declaration on Cultural Diversity, 2001

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

Global companies, with an expanded market place, culturally diverse customers, and increasing complex procurement logistics, have to continue to refine and in some cases reinvent their business models in order to effectively compete, and in many cases, even survive. ~ Lanze Thompson

You need to recognize that people may fail and make mistakes. When you recognize this aspect of human diversity, you will be more forgiving when people disappoint or frustrate you. ~ Joann Richardson, Trust

I feel the more diverse the group, the greater the potential to discover alternative ways to do something that may lead to improvement. ~ Robert Stevenson, Raise Your Line

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

Negotiations are said to be integrative when the party’s interest and aspirations are respected, regardless of where they come from. It is built on mutual respect and tolerance for diverse opinion and objective. ~ Patrick Kennedy

We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin, but we all belong to one human race. ~ Kofi Annan

As long as the differences and diversities of mankind exist, democracy must allow for compromise, for accommodation, and for the recognition of differences. ~ Eugene McCarthy

Learning to appreciate and accept that there are benefits to our diverse life experiences is where harnessing the power of diversity begins. ~ Michael A. Pitcher

Civilizations should be measured by the degree of diversity attained and the degree of unity retained. ~ W.H. Auden

The real death of America will come when everyone is alike. ~ James T. Ellison

You can’t win leaving half of your team sitting on the bench. ~ François-Philippe Champagne

Differences challenge assumptions. ~ Anne Wilson Schaef

For those who have seen the Earth from space, and for the hundreds and perhaps thousands more who will, the experience most certainly changes your perspective. The things that we share in our world are far more valuable than those which divide us. ~ Donald Williams

One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings. ~ Franklin Thomas

The price of the democratic way of life is a growing appreciation of people’s differences, not merely as tolerable, but as the essence of a rich and rewarding human experience. ~ Jerome Nathanson

If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place. ~ Margaret Mead

Diversity: the art of thinking independently together. ~ Malcolm Stevenson Forbes

If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. ~ John F. Kennedy

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

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

We have created a society where individual rights and freedoms, compassion and diversity are core to our citizenship. But underlying that idea of Canada is the promise that we all have a chance to build a better life for ourselves and our children. ~ Justin Trudeau

To get real diversity of thought, you need to find the people who genuinely hold different views and invite them into the conversation. ~ Adam Grant

I can tell you, without diversity, creativity remains stagnant. ~ Edward Enninful

The diversity of thought is where you can make better business decisions. ~ Mary Barra

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

Diversity is critical to innovation. ~ Julie Sweet

We’re all different and it’s ok to be different. ~ Ellen DeGeneres

I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong or free to choose those who shall govern my country. ~ Former Prime Minister John Diefenbaker

United we stand, divided we fall. ~ Aesop

What the world needs most is openness: Open hearts, open doors, open eyes, open minds, open ears, open souls.~ Robert Muller

In our work and in our living, we must recognize that difference is a reason for celebration and growth, rather than a reason for destruction. ~ Audre Lorde

The biggest mistake is believing there is one right way to listen, to talk, to have a conversation — or a relationship. ~ Deborah Tannen

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

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