Quote Of The Day By Sandra Oh: 'Nothing Has Taught Me More Than Being With Discomfort. It Can Be Our Greatest Learning Opportunity. And It Is...'

Sandra Oh has steadily built a trailblazing acting career ever since she gained recognition for her work in 1994's "Double Happiness." The "Grey's Anatomy" and "Killing Eve" star hasn't looked back since, giving notable performances across multiple media, including films like "Sideways" and "Raya and the Last Dragon."  She has also appeared in "The Chair" and "American Crime," and voiced characters in "Invincible" and "She-Ra and the Princesses of Power."

Oh also was the first actress of Asian descent to be nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. In addition, she has won two Golden Globes so far. Throughout her long and illustrious career in both film and television, Oh has consistently championed nuanced Asian-American representation onscreen, especially through projects like "The Sympathizer."

Oh's commitment to raw, authentic performances has helped shape a legacy peppered with historic and inspirational award wins, which is why she is today's Quote of the Day.

"Nothing has taught me more than being with discomfort. It can be our greatest learning opportunity. And it is also inevitable. So, if you can train yourself not to turn away, but to learn to be with your discomfort — and trust that it might be telling you something you don't yet know."

The above quote comes from Oh's commencement address at Dartmouth College in 2025. Oh prefaces this quote by being vulnerable about her doubts and fears, explaining how she made the decision to have an honest discussion with the students in spite of these feelings.

"It can help you develop an inner strength that will enable you to face the challenges life presents you with, without losing your values or your sense of self along the way," Oh continued, highlighting how the discomfort of operating outside of one's comfort zone can eventually feel empowering.

Oh's perspective on discomfort is contextualized against her experience of playing Dr. Cristina Yang in "Grey's Anatomy" for 10 seasons. "It was also one of the most challenging decades of my life. I learned profound lessons during this time, because so much of it was so uncomfortable," Oh said during the graduation address.

Oh went on to explain how she stood up for Cristina's portrayal by being vocal about certain aspects of her dialogue in the script. While this creative back-and-forth was marked with discomfort, it ultimately helped inspire an iconic performance that redefined tropes connected to strong female characters on television.

• "I'm so sorry it's so painful right now. But it will change. I'm not saying you'll get everything you think you want. And I know you have no idea how it's going to change. That lesson on how things will change... the impermanence of things. It's hard to figure that out. I think that takes a lifetime." — from an interview with The Guardian in 2025
  
• "A lot of us are scared and angry about what's going on in the world. In times like these, kindness might seem naive or pointless. But when I say kindness, I'm not talking about 'being nice.' I'm talking about being able to hold your own heartbreak, so we can go on living — go on resisting, go on building, go on healing." — from Oh's 2025 Dartmouth graduation address
• "We [Asian artists] have a new generation of storytellers coming up. We have a little bit more freedom to write and talk about what we want to write and talk about. We aren't as afraid it's all going to go away if we wake up. It's been thrilling for me just to have been able to be a part of that." — from Oh's 2022 op-ed on Literary Hub