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What advice would you give your twenty-year-old self, and what should they ignore?

On the record

Public figures who have answered a question like this elsewhere. Quoted from the source shown, not written for FLAPSS.

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Eleanor Roosevelt First Lady of the United States 1933–1945; United States Delegate to the United Nations General Assembly 1945–1952; Chair of the UN Commission on Human Rights 1946–1951

Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down.

Recorded You Learn by Living (1960), Eleanor Roosevelt Papers Project, The George Washington University, 1960 source ↗

Lech Wałęsa President of Poland, 1990–1995; co-founder and chairman of the Solidarity trade union

When I recall my own path of life I cannot but speak of the violence, hatred and lies. A lesson drawn from such experiences, however, was that we can effectively oppose violence only if we ourselves do not resort to it.

Recorded Oslo City Hall (lecture read on his behalf by Bogdan Cywiński), The Nobel Foundation, 11 December 1983 source ↗

Óscar Arias Sánchez President of Costa Rica, 1986–1990 and 2006–2010

History was not written by men who predicted failure, who gave up their dreams, who abandoned their principles, who allowed their laziness to put their intelligence to sleep. If certain men at times were alone in seeking victory, they always had at their side the watchful spirit of their peoples, the faith and destiny of many generations.

Recorded Oslo City Hall, The Nobel Foundation, 11 December 1987 source ↗

Margaret Thatcher Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1979–1990; Leader of the Conservative Party 1975–1990; MP for Finchley 1959–1992

You never follow the crowd. You work things out for yourself. And therefore if you think differently from the crowd, you must put your own view and try to get people taking your line. But you never follow the crowd. You never do things just because other people are doing them.

Recorded Chris Ogden, Time magazine, No. 10 Downing Street, Margaret Thatcher Foundation, from Thatcher MSS (Churchill Archive Centre), 16 January 1989 source ↗

Lee Kuan Yew Prime Minister of Singapore, 1959–1990; Senior Minister 1990–2004; Minister Mentor 2004–2011

The sky has turned brighter. There is a glorious rainbow that beckons those with the spirit of adventure. And there are rich findings at the end of that rainbow. To the young and the not too old, I say, look at the horizon, find that rainbow, go ride it. Not all will be rich; quite a few will find a vein of gold; but all who pursue that rainbow will have a joyous and exhilarating ride and some profit.

Recorded Singapore Press Club (title proposed by the Club), Singapore Press Club, Petir (People's Action Party), reproducing the speech in full, 7 June 1996 source ↗

Ruth Bader Ginsburg Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States, 1993–2020; Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit 1980–1993

Having advanced well beyond what the French call "a certain age," I am often asked to convey to younger people helpful advice and counsel. So I will open these remarks with the best advice I ever received. The advice, which I have several times shared with others, was given to me by my mother-in-law on my wedding day. She had a prescription for a happy, enduring marriage: "It pays," she said, "it pays sometimes to be a little deaf."

Recorded New York Law School Law Review dinner, on accepting the Froessel Award, New York Law School Law Review (digitalcommons.nyls.edu), 12 February 1999 source ↗

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf President of Liberia, 2006–2018

So I urge my sisters, and my brothers, not to be afraid. Be not afraid to denounce injustice, though you may be outnumbered. Be not afraid to seek peace, even if your voice may be small. Be not afraid to demand peace.

Recorded Oslo City Hall, The Nobel Foundation, 10 December 2011 source ↗

John Lewis U.S. Representative from Georgia, 1987–2020; Chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee 1963–1966

You must find a way to get in the way, you must find a way to get into trouble — good trouble, necessary trouble.

Recorded Emory University Quadrangle, Atlanta, Emory News Center, Emory University, 12 May 2014 source ↗

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