Cultural Differences Quotes

“How you look at it is pretty much how you'll see it”
― Rasheed Ogunlaru

“I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
― Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“Let us dedicate this new era to mothers around the world, and also to the mother of all mothers -- Mother Earth. It is up to us to keep building bridges to bring the world closer together, and not destroy them to divide us further apart. We can pave new roads towards peace simply by understanding other cultures. This can be achieved through traveling, learning other languages, and interacting with others from outside our borders. Only then will one truly discover how we are more alike than different. Never allow language or cultural traditions to come between brothers and sisters. The same way one brother may not like his sister's choice of fashion or hairstyle, he will never hate her for her personal style or music preference. If you judge a man, judge only his heart. And if you should do so, make sure you use the truth in your conscience when weighing one's character. Do not measure anybody strictly based on the bad you see in them and ignore all the good.”
― Suzy Kassem, Rise Up and Salute the Sun: The Writings of Suzy Kassem

“We need no language to laugh”
― Janaki Sooriyarachchi, චන්දු තමී

“Сильные чувства — безнациональны. Уже одно это говорит в пользу интернационализма. Радость, горе, страх, болезнь — лишены национальной окраски. Не абсурдно ли звучит:

“Он разрыдался, как типичный немец”.”
― Сергей Довлатов, Собрание сочинений в 3-х томах. Том 3

“After a day of watching the two-legs interact from within their midst, she was certain that they could talk as well as any wolf. Unlike wolves, however, they mostly used their mouths, a thing she found limiting. How could you tell someone to keep away from your food when your own mouth was full?”
― Jane Lindskold, Through Wolf's Eyes

“Timothy Dunnigan: The kinds of metaphorical language that we use to describe the Hmong say far more about us, and our attachment to our own frame of reference, than they do about the Hmong.”
― Anne Fadiman, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down: A Hmong Child, Her American Doctors, and the Collision of Two Cultures

“Hillalum wondered what sort of people were forged by living under such conditions; did they escape madness? Did they grow accustomed to this? Would the children born under a solid sky scream if they saw the ground beneath their feet?”
― Ted Chiang, Stories of Your Life and Others

“I thought," Shad said slowly, "that she was offended if you referred to Blind Seer or Elation as her pets."
"True," Derian assured him. "Absolutely the correct etiquette—to her face. However, well… When I first met Firekeeper, less than a year ago, her relationships with animals fell into pretty much two categories: those you ate and those you befriended. I remember that she thought we were pretty clever for bringing horses along so we wouldn't need to hunt our meat. It took me a while to show her they had other uses.”
― Jane Lindskold, Wolf's Head, Wolf's Heart

“Often we may even smile or laugh at adversity, but all people share the same passions. They are merely manifest differently according to one's culture and conditioning.”
― Yasuo Kuwahara, Kamikaze: A Japanese Pilot's Own Spectacular Story of the Famous Suicide Squadrons

“Kagan's law of first contact,'You'll surprise you more than they will.”
― Janet Kagan, Uhura's Song

“You have no tail!" said Brightspot. her own whipped suddenly forward; she stared, first at it, then at Wilson."How do you manage?”
― Janet Kagan, Uhura's Song

“OLD MAN: In Africa, people are sadder about the death of an old man than about that of a newborn baby. The old man represented a wealth of experience that might have benefited the tribe, whereas the newborn baby had not lived and could not even be aware of dying. In Europe, people are sad about the newborn baby because they think he might well have done wonderful things if he had lived. On the other hand, they pay little attention to the death of the old man, who had already lived his life anyway.

--Edmond Wells
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELATIVE AND ABSOLUTE KNOWLEDGE”
― Bernard Werber, Empire of the Ants

“I don't want her to know the truth about us."
"I'm merely going to explain to explain that I'm not Nathaniel's mistress."
"You can't talk about mistresses to a well-bred Englishwoman. It violates every propriety."
"To speak in a forthright manner violates propriety?" She rose to stare at him with thinly veiled amusements. "No wonder you English lost the colonies. What with all the lying and the 'propriety' and the evasions, how do you ever get anything done?"
As she crossed the box to sit down beside Evelina, he stared after her in fascinated amazement. Americans were mad—that’s all there was to it.”
― Sabrina Jeffries, Married to the Viscount

“English words made only from twenty-six characters? Are English a bit lazy or what? We have fifty thousand characters in Chinese.”
― Xiaolu Guo, A Concise Chinese-English Dictionary for Lovers

“In order to feel the beauty of a culture in your heart, first you must be empty of all assumptions.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Karadeniz Chronicle: The Novel

“there is very little 'of course' when it comes to custom”
― Janet Kagan, Uhura's Song

“Civilization is when we sit together, with different faces and different forms, yet one sentience.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Earthquakin' Egalitarian: I Die Everyday So Your Children Can Live

“The hyphenation of your nationality minimizes your standing in the nation. The hyphen might as well act as a minus sign. Both are represented by the same symbol, and have the same consequences. Just as a minus 'takes away' a numerical value, its counterpart hyphen lessens the value of your nationality.”
― Nicole Draffen, Hyphened-Nation: Don’t Check the Box

“Unknown Indigenous peoples don’t receive any help; They vanish as silently as they have lived.”
― Jean-Philippe Soulé, DANCING WITH DEATH: An Inspiring Real-Life Story of Epic Travel Adventure

“وقد بدأت عصبة الأمم في محاولةٍ منها لتحقيق جزء من هذه الأُخُوَّة التي جاء بها الإسلام، وذلك من أجل التأليف بين قلوب الدول الأوروبية المختلفة، ووضع إطار لقانون دُّوَلي يفضي إلى السلام والتقدم. لكن كانت باكورة عصبة الأمم معيبة؛ لأنها تقر بمبادئ القومية العدوانية والإمبريالية. لذلك؛ عليها أن تتعامل مع الدول التي تعتبر تلك المبادئ المعادية للإنسان بمزيد من الاحترام. فبدايتها معيبة، أي لا تصلح لتحقيق الأُخُوَّة كما في الإسلام، فمن الصعب جدًا أن نرى كيف يمكن أن تصل إلى الحل الحقيقي للمشكلة، وهو أن تتمتع عصبة الأمم بنفس الحقوق التي يتمتع بها الأفراد. علاوةً على أنه يجب تطبيق نفس القوانين والمعايير الأخلاقية كما هي مطبقة على الأفراد. فإذا ما أرادتْ عصبة الأمم أن تنهض فعلًا، فعليها أن تتخذ من الأُخُوَّة التي جاء بها الإسلام أنموذجًا لها؛ فالناس هنا – في العالم الإسلامي – على قلب رجل واحد، على الرغم من ضعف العالم الإسلامي. فإن تضامن الشعوب وترابطهم لا يضعف حتى ولو ضَعُفَتْ الحالة السياسية في العالم الإسلامي. وقد نرى أن بعضًا من النقَّادِ صاحوا في كل مكان بقولهم: (حتى لو ادَّعى المسلمون بأنهم قوميون، فهذا ليس من باب الحب الوطني؛ بل إنه من باب التشدد الديني). إنهم يريدون أن نتبادل وجهات نظرنا المستقبلية في مقابل وجهة نظرهم المستقبلية للقومية العدوانية؛ أي بمفهومها السلبي. فإذا فعل المسلمون ذلك، فإنهم بذلك يُحقِّقون قوله سبحانه وتعالى: ﴿وَإِذْ قُلْتُمْ يَا مُوسَى لَنْ نَصْبِرَ عَلَى طَعَامٍ وَاحِدٍ فَادْعُ لَنَا رَبَّكَ يُخْرِجْ لَنَا مِمَّا تُنْبِتُ الْأَرْضُ مِنْ بَقْلِهَا وَقِثَّائِهَا وَفُومِهَا وَعَدَسِهَا وَبَصَلِهَا قَالَ أَتَسْتَبْدِلُونَ الَّذِي هُوَ أَدْنَى بِالَّذِي هُوَ خَيْرٌ اهْبِطُوا مِصْرًا فَإِنَّ لَكُمْ مَا سَأَلْتُمْ وَضُرِبَتْ عَلَيْهِمُ الذِّلَّةُ وَالْمَسْكَنَةُ وَبَاءُوا بِغَضَبٍ مِنَ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ بِأَنَّهُمْ كَانُوا يَكْفُرُونَ بِآيَاتِ اللَّهِ وَيَقْتُلُونَ النَّبِيِّينَ بِغَيْرِ الْحَقِّ ذَلِكَ بِمَا عَصَوْا وَكَانُوا يَعْتَدُونَ٦١﴾ [البقرة: 61]، فإنهم سيفعلون مثل ما فعل بنو إسرائيل قديمًا. أما الإسلام فهو متقدم بثلاثمائة سنة عن أوروبا في مثل هذه الأمور.”
― Marmaduke William Pickthall, الجانب الثقافي في الإسلام

“You’re not playing the game,’ Mary Landon said. ‘I told you about me. You’re just telling me about your family.’

The statement surprised Chee. One defined himself by his family. How else? And then it occurred to him that white people didn’t. They identified themselves by what they had done as individuals.”
― Tony Hillerman, People of Darkness

“Food is perhaps the most accessible way to experience another culture. It does not require you to have a friend or colleague from another culture and you don’t even need to travel outside your hometown.”
― Rohit Bhargava, Beyond Diversity

“Every culture’s history is essential. Everyone deserves to have their lives elevated through the beauty of truthful representation.”
― Rohit Bhargava, Beyond Diversity

“Mistaken notions of our culture jam-packed with the flippant hearts, particularly those who intend to excavate reasons to justify every rape or forced conversion case cannibalise my brain box and moral compass which often says to each other ‘My dear, it’s so unnecessary’.”
― Qamar Rafiq

“All yings are time rats, time bandits. Open their guts and what you find inside their digestive tract are the second and minutes of hundreds of men’s lives. Time cannibals. All those broken minute and hour hands just lying undigested in their stomach. It makes me want to drink.”
― Christopher G. Moore, Cold Hit: A Novel

“I made American pancakes this morning. Would you like some? I am about to serve the first batch to my guests."
"I can make some for us," I said, taking in the batter, the greased griddle, and the bowl of apricots. "You can go and fuss over the guests."
"Ah, bien," she answered, loading a platter full of beautiful apricot-studded pancakes to take away. "Bon, I pour the batter and place the slices over the top just so. They're very moist because of the crème fraîche, and then I serve them with a crème anglaise."
"It looks great," I said, taking the ladle in hand and stirring the batter, just to get a feel for the consistency. "Don't worry about us."
Sandrine grinned her thanks, and I turned my attention to breakfast.
"I can do that, if you want to sit," Neil offered.
I waved him away. "I can make pancakes in my sleep."
"I liked that she called them 'American pancakes'."
"Well, they are. French pancakes are crepes, and German pancakes are a whole other deal altogether." I ladled four puddles of batter onto the griddle, enjoying the sizzling sound they made as batter met butter. "English pancakes are closer to crepes, just thicker."
"Reminds me of when I was in Toronto for a conference. I tried to order a Canadian bacon and pineapple pizza but got tongue-tied."
I laughed and began to arrange the apricots. "What did you do?"
"I said 'Hawaiian' instead. The guy seemed to know what I was talking about."
"Quick thinking."
"Thank you."
"In truth, between the crème fraîche and the crème anglaise topping, I think these pancakes are a bit more trans-Atlantic than American."
"I'll take your word for it.”
― Hillary Manton Lodge, Reservations for Two

“Life is in every culture, but no one culture is the whole of life.”
― Abhijit Naskar, Either Reformist or Terrorist: If You Are Terror I Am Your Grandfather

“A hundred miles beyond the point, the farthest point, the most distant point on the horizon. Out past the alkali flats and sinks; Misfit and Stillwater, Humboldt and Carson. Out over the mountains, ice age islands and archipelagos, Ichthyosaur, Columbian Mastodon boned talus slopes and scree fields. Beyond the Saltbrush, Bitterbrush, Creosote Plants and Rabbitbrush, petrified Redwood forests and Mount Mazama blowouts. Out over the playas, hoodos and springs, koi ponds and basins. Beyond the mustangs, horned lizards, whiptails and rattlers and over the abandoned mines; silver and gold, copper, bornite and cinnabar. Out past the hematite and jasper, chert and agate. Out over Lovelock, Spirit Cave and Wizard's Beach. Beyond the grinding rocks, diorite and granitic boulders cast adrift in a sea of sand, dust and wind. Beyond the Rye Grass, Rice Grass and Bunchgrass. Out over the land into the distance and beyond. The distance of a thousand years, a million years, a century, a lifetime. A distance of roads forgotten and graves abandoned, misplaced Iris and Lilac the only indication of a person's passing. Out past Bonneville, Daggett, Donner and Walker. The two tracks, the single tracks, the deer and coyote tracks, lizard tracks and no tracks at all.

Out over the land.....”
― P Edmonds Young

“He feels a sudden rush of irritation for this business of other cultures, other countries, renaming and recategorizing things, using their own yardsticks, for other people, as if their definitions were universal. But this fades away as swiftly as it has arrived with the question, 'What if they're right?”
― Neel Mukherjee, A Life Apart