“They’re everything you say, but so much more.”
– Diana, Wonder Woman

Yes, I saw Wonder Woman. Review to follow shortly, but basically: I loved it! 🙂

There are a lot of really good quotes I could choose from, but this is my favorite.

Skating around spoilers as much as possible, I will simply say that this quote comes near the end of the movie. At the height of the climax, her enemy is trying to sway her to his side with talk of all the evil of humanity, how awful and horrible they truly are. But Diana has gotten a very good look at humanity, both the good and the bad, the terrible and the noble. At a moment where she stands poised to pass judgment, she chooses to see more in humans than her foe does.

There is great darkness to humanity, but there is also great light.

I think what I love most about this truth is how it applies not just to the whole of our race, but to each of us individually as well. The collective is made up of individuals, after all. If there is both light and darkness to the whole, it follows that there is light and darkness to each of us as well.

People often judge. We judge each other, and we judge ourselves. We deify or demonize people, either putting them on a pedestal or consigning them to a pit. That is, with extremely rare exception, a mistake. We are not gods, and we are not monsters. We can’t stand above others as if we were better, and we can’t stand below as if we are worse. Either path leads to terrible things.

We are equals, no more, no less.

That person who is your hero? You are the same as them.

So stop telling yourself you’re not.

Yeah, you aren’t perfect, you aren’t ultra-powerful, you are flawless. Neither are they. They have struggles of their own, just as you do.

There’s more to them, and there’s more to you.