Quotes About Culture

Whether you are a believer—fundamentalist, evangelical, moderate, liberal—or a nonbeliever, the Bible is the most significant book in the history of our civilization.

each author of the Bible lived in his own time and place—and not in ours.

Only literary cultures have a concern for exact replication of the facts "as they really are.

approximately half the Roman Empire claimed allegiance to the Christian faith by about 400 CE. The empire as a whole is thought to have comprised some sixty million people at the time

Wisdom is referred to as "she"—or even as "Lady Wisdom"—because the Greek word for wisdom is feminine);

ancient religions were almost never interested in "true beliefs.

Ancient people, whether pagans, Jews, or Christians, did not neatly differentiate between the religious and the political. They would have had a hard time understanding the difference.

There was a scant role for ethics in the paganism. It is not that ancient people were less ethical than people today; it is that ethics had little to do with religion. If it had a "location" in ancient life, it was in philosophy.

no long hair or beards)

for the purposes of this chapter, I am principally interested in what Jews of the time thought about God and the divine realm, since it is these thoughts that can make sense of how a man like Jesus could be considered divine.

Judaism was not principally about belief per se; for most Jews, Judaism was a set of practices

Chris: How do you know if a Frenchman has been in your backyard? Teddy: Hey, I'm French, okay? Chris: Your garbage cans are empty and your dog's pregnant. [Chris and Gordie laugh] Teddy: Didn't I just say I was French?

Pop culture writing is about ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Literature is about extraordinary people in ordinary circumstances.

Hitchhiking around Canada with a buddy after my senior year of college was the closest thing to an adventure I'd ever had, and given the cheerful, helpful nature of most Canadians, it wasn't much of an adventure.

The cult of celebrity is cogitative shit running through the bowel of the intellect.

to raise the cultural level of the laboring masses and rear them in a socialist manner, promote a literature in the local languages, appoint local people who are most closely connected with the proletariat to the Soviet organizations and draw them into the work of administering the territory.

On the other hand, trust produces speed. And, as Stephen points out, the greatest trust-building key is "results." Results build brand loyalty. Results inspire and fire up a winning culture. The consistent production of results not only causes customers to increase their reorders, it also compels them to consistently recommend you to others.

A nation's well-being, as well as its ability to compete, is conditioned by a single, pervasive cultural characteristic: the level of trust inherent in the society.

It is testimony to the importance of beer in their story that the brewery was the first permanent building the Pilgrims constructed.

John Wesley drank wine, was something of an ale expert, and often made sure that his Methodist preachers were paid in one of the vital currencies of the day—rum. His brother, Charles Wesley, was known for the fine port, Madeira, and sherry he often served in his home; the journals of George Whitefield are filled with references to his enjoyment of alcohol.

By doing rather than merely studying, we create a culture. Newcomers and the young feed on that culture. They watch. They do. They, too, are changed. Our culture expands. You Americans create a system of thought. The most you ask is that people contemplate new ideas. You might ask them to give or to sometimes attend meetings, but no contagious culture is created.

So if you're living your life around a temporary role and allowing your treasure chest to remain barren in terms of your only real permanent role, then you're letting yourself be seduced by the culture and robbed of the true richness of your life—the deep and lasting satisfaction that only comes through family relationships.

always treat your employees exactly as you want them to treat your best customers. You can buy a person's hand, but you can't buy his heart.

Sigmund Freud said that the conscience is primarily a product of our early life and culture.