Oscars 2013: 7 inspirational quotes from the speeches

‘I want to dedicate this to a man named Tony Mendez.  Thirty-three years ago, Tony, using nothing but his creativity and his intelligence, got six people out of a very bad situation. And so I want to dedicate this to him and the Taylors and the Sheardowns and people all over the world, in the US, in Canada, in Iran, who use creativity and intelligence to solve problems non violently.’In essence, the Oscars is about celebrating creativity, and Chris Terrio reminded us what the power of creativity can achieve.‘Here’s hoping that someday in the not too distant future, the misfortunes of Fantine will only be found in stories and never more in real life.’ ‘Most of all, we want to thank this young lady who was homeless just a year ago and now she’s standing in front of all of you And she’s an artist and all of you are artists, and we feel like we need to start supporting the arts. They’re dying in our communities and all of us are artists and we need to stand up and help girls like her been seen and heard. It’s so important.’The shorts tend to get lost in the big hoopla of the awards, so it’s always nice to see when they get the chance to share their voice like ‘Inocente’ did.View the list »
‘You scaled the mountain, because you’re not afraid of it. You slay the dragon because you’re not afraid of it, and you cross through fire, because it’s worth it. I borrowed my character’s words. Sorry, couldn’t resist.’Christoph Waltz started the night off right, keeping it eloquent, humble and using Quentin Tarantino's own words to praise the man himself.

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Love them or hate them, speeches are an integral part of the Oscar telecast each year. Winners get to celebrate their victory by thanking all those who helped get them there. It's usually a race against the clock to get all the names in.

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For the viewers at home, the laundry list of names have no meaning or weight to us. Maybe one day, we'll get to thank Harvey Weinstein. In the meantime, it is always nice to hear inspirational stories or advice from those on stage. And a little bit of humor can go a long way.

View the list
  • ‘You scaled the mountain, because you’re not afraid of it. You slay the dragon because you’re not afraid of it, and you cross through fire, because it’s worth it. I borrowed my character’s words. Sorry, couldn’t resist.’Christoph Waltz started the night off right, keeping it eloquent, humble and using Quentin Tarantino's own words to praise the man himself.
  • ‘Most of all, we want to thank this young lady who was homeless just a year ago and now she’s standing in front of all of you And she’s an artist and all of you are artists, and we feel like we need to start supporting the arts. They’re dying in our communities and all of us are artists and we need to stand up and help girls like her been seen and heard. It’s so important.’The shorts tend to get lost in the big hoopla of the awards, so it’s always nice to see when they get the chance to share their voice like ‘Inocente’ did.
  • ‘Here’s hoping that someday in the not too distant future, the misfortunes of Fantine will only be found in stories and never more in real life.’ 
  • ‘I want to dedicate this to a man named Tony Mendez.  Thirty-three years ago, Tony, using nothing but his creativity and his intelligence, got six people out of a very bad situation. And so I want to dedicate this to him and the Taylors and the Sheardowns and people all over the world, in the US, in Canada, in Iran, who use creativity and intelligence to solve problems non violently.’In essence, the Oscars is about celebrating creativity, and Chris Terrio reminded us what the power of creativity can achieve.
  • ‘You guys are just standing up cause you feel bad that I fell and that’s really embarrassing but thank you.’After tripping in front of everybody, Jennifer Lawrence didn’t miss a beat, giving hope to klutzes everywhere that someday they’ll shake it off just as cool as her.
  • “When we got married 16 years ago, or since we got married 16 years ago, my wife Rebecca has lived with some very strange men. They were strange as individuals and probably even stranger if taken as a group, but luckily she’s the versatile one in the family, and she’s been the perfect companion to all of them.”Daniel Day Lewis could give a master class on the best way to give an acceptance speech with humor, grace and a shout out to his wife that was endearing.
  • ‘You have to work harder than you possibly think you can. You can’t hold grudges. It’s hard, but you can’t hold grudges. And it doesn’t matter how you get knocked down in life because that’s gonna happen. All that matters is that you gotta get up.’Ben Affleck ended the speeches on a high note, giving everyone some solid life advice.
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, Burbank Pop Culture Examiner

Nicole DiDomenico's diet consists mainly of film, television, and books. Once she masters the art of writing her bio, she'll figure out how to break into a writer's room on the Disney lot.

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