21 best AOC quotes that prove she’s the most inspiring and exciting politician of her generation

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s (AOC) Met Gala debut was undoubtedly a catalyst for a media storm this week after the congresswoman donned a ‘tax the rich’ ballgown to one of the world’s most prestigious and hotly-anticipated events of the year.

AOC took a brief break from speaking to congress and dropping home truths on social media – and innovatively opted to wear the message instead.

While the outfit choice ruffled up some feathers - with critics saying that the American politician and activist’s subversive message was hypocritical, given that the Met is exclusively for the rich at $30,000 a ticket, others found the bold statement genius and fitting to the evening.

The 31-year-old from the Bronx has served as the US Representative for New York’s 14th congressional district since 2019. She inspires, empowers, and advocates for the LGTBQ+ community, working-class people and POC – and she certainly isn’t afraid to voice her progressive views.

Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter, The Viral Democracy

Here are some of our favourite AOC quotes over the years.

• “We are all capable of awakening and commitment. And because of that, we can all be great.”
• “Change takes courage.”
• “Give people the respect of your honest opinion, and always meet them where they’re at.”
• “You don’t have to be perfect, but you do have to be 100% committed.”
• “There is no such thing as talking about class without there being implications of the racial history of the United States. You just can’t do it.”
• “The best thing we could do is work as hard as we can for what is right and what is good.”
• “Our democracy is designed to speak truth to power.”
• “Women like me aren’t supposed to run for office — I wasn’t born to a wealthy or powerful family. But we have to ask ourselves, who has New York been changing for?”
• “They’ll tell you you’re too loud, that you need to wait your turn and ask the right people for permission. Do it anyway.”
• “In my opinion, if women and gender-expanding people want to run for office, we can’t knock on anybody’s doors; we have to build our own house.”
• “We don’t have time to sit on our hands as our planet burns. For young people, climate change is bigger than election or re-election. It’s life or death.”
• “I am experienced enough to do this. I am knowledgeable enough to do this. I am prepared enough to do this. I am mature enough to do this. I am brave enough to do this.”
• “We have to have the courage to say. We can do better.”
• “I was born in a place where your ZIP code determines your destiny.”
• “I just hope that more people will ignore the fatalism of the argument that we are beyond repair. We are not beyond repair. We are never beyond repair.”
• “Give people the respect of your honest opinion, and always meet them where they’re at.”
• “I understand the pain of working-class Americans because I have experienced the pain.”
• “We must lean on others to strive on our own.”
• “It’s disingenuous to... pretend the sources of our money don’t impact the policy we write - you just can’t serve two masters.”
• “We have to stick to the message: What are we proposing to the American people? Not, ‘What are we fighting against?’”
• “I’m very hands-on about social media. That’s my voice.”