How true.
O, The Oprah Magazine continues the 2018 Year of Big Questions in May asking – What can we agree on? – delving into how every American can listen with kindness, argue without anger, and find the way to higher ground.
This month, Oprah talks to Tony and Pulitzer Prize for Drama winner, Lin-Manuel Miranda, about our country’s divided times, how we can move forward and the legacy we leave behind.
Oprah Quotes:
On how the country is divided: “There are, of course, subjects on which many of us differ, and I mean differ. Our country is more divided than most of us can remember ever seeing. It hurts to witness the toll this division is taking on our nation – and it’s even more painful when it separates us from our loved ones.”
On our collective consciousness: “What has become of our collective consciousness – our collective conscience? And our belief in doing the greatest good in the best interests of the most?”
On what we need to do to move forward: “I hope and pray that you agree: It’s time to stand up, and stand together, for the sake of us all.”
Lin-Manuel Miranda Quotes:
On what he wants to pass onto his sons: “Pride in their culture, which is what my parents gave my sister and me. And the most important gift you can give your kids is empathy. It’s the number one tool in an artist’s toolbox. You can’t create art if you can’t understand what someone else has been through and then try to articulate it.”
On relating to Hamilton: “When I realized that Hamilton was an immigrant, I understood everything. That’s why he was so relentless. As an immigrant, you work three times as hard and are promised maybe a fraction as much. Hamilton knew those rules going in. That’s why he designed a financial system and established the Coast Guard, and cowrote the Federalist Papers. He had that drive.”
On history repeating itself: “The fights we’re having now politically are the same fights we were having six months after the country was born. States’ rights versus national rights, foreign intervention versus how we treat our own people. We’re always going to have these struggles.”
On making strides as a country: “We have made huge strides as a country – toward LGBTQ rights, for instance – which is why I think we’re living in a time of enormous moral clarity. These are things we can’t go backward on. I challenge myself to think, Where can I direct my focus? What won’t let me go unless I do something about it?”
On his mission to help Puerto Rico: “There’s still so much urgent need. I always knew I would take Hamilton there, and we’re planning to do that in 2019. Our proceeds will go to raising money for the arts. So many have gotten on board to help. That’s the silver lining to the time we live in: People are engaged as never before when it comes to the things that matter to them.”