Quotes About Culture

Most national identities rest in part on a series of shared pseudohistorical myths.

It is heartening to realize that we are not nearly so stuck as it might at first appear. Cultures do change. Things that now seem normal—such as hyper-individualism and economism—can suddenly come to be seen as untenable and brought to an end with surprising quickness. These seismic changes occur as people free themselves from limiting beliefs and in the process cultivate a new worldview.

But whenever I meet dynamic, nonretarded Americans, I notice that they all seem to share a single unifying characteristic: the inability to experience the kind of mind-blowing, transcendent romantic relationship they perceive to be a normal part of living. And someone needs to take the fall for this. So instead of blaming no one for this (which is kind of cowardly) or blaming everyone (which is kind of meaningless), I'm going to blame John Cusack.

Being interesting has been replaced by being identifiable.

Egypt is our world today—different vocabulary, same issues. Egypt was organized on the basis of force, ambition, and pleasure, just like our culture today. Egypt persecuted the people of God and was overthrown by divine judgment, just as today's world is destined to be.

We live in a generation where people will gladly choose a gold plaited piece of wood,over a mud clustered bag of diamonds . That's 21st century !!

Times are bad. Children no longer obey their parents, and everyone is writing a book.

What a time! What a civilization!

in the outer city, the northern accents clamoring around

If a lady should do this, Raisa wondered, should a man do the same? Is he required to?

Itulah sebabnya mengapa persoalan-persoalan Asia harus diselesaikan dengan cara Asia.

Mengejar kehidupan sendiri, sementara orang yang sudah dianggap sebagai keluarga berada dalam kesusahan, bukanlah cara orang Indonesia.

Sebagai sahabat yang lebih tua, Amerika bisa memberi kami nasihat. Tetapi jangan mencampuri urusan kami. Kami telah melihat pelaksanaan kapitalisme dan demokrasi Barat melalui bangsa Belanda. Kami tidak ingin menerapkan sistem itu. Biarkan kami berkembang dengan satu metode baru yang sesuai dengan kepribadian kami. Itu bukanlah sesuatu yang bisa diekspor, tetapu sebaliknya kami juga tidak akan mengimpor doktrin-doktrin yang tidak sesuai untuk kami.

Bagi orang Barat, memiliki isteri yang kedua tidak beradab, tidak pantas dan kejam sekali, tetapi apapun kekurangan dalam kehidupan rumah tanggamu sehingga engkau tertarik untuk membangun rumah tangga yang lain, jangan sampai mengorbankan anak-anak.

Film seharusnya menjadi alat untuk meningkatkan solidaritas antar bangsa di dunia, bukan untuk menghancurkannya. Inilah cara yang murah untuk menunjukkan keramahan kepada kami. Tanpa dollar. Sekadar membuat film yang menunjukkan Amerika menyukai kami. Ternyata di dunia khayalpun Amerika membuat kami terpecah-pecah.

Every culture seems to have customs to ward off evil. Italians use the curved horn, and Eastern European Jews used to say insulting things to babies, such as "Oy, such an ugly girl!" to avoid tempting the devil. America's magic charms are private education, science camp, and SAT tutors to ward off our evil: personal failure. Mothers

Boys don't go for fat girls. They talk about wanting 'real women', but what they mean is big tits. Not thighs, not bellies, not fat bums. They want skin and bone.

Poor Nelly, she was not to know that fashions in sin change as much as other fashions.

In early-twenty-first-century America, when political debate is often confined to shouting on cable television or posting on Twitter, it's even more valuable to revisit an era when arguments over politics and culture were palpable, urged, even revolutionary.

Knitting has a profound connective power. The culture and people and rituals around it, the values, they all contribute to an immediate and profound trust in one another. It's home. You belong and are accepted, which rings true no matter where you are.

not-so-grand metropolis of Portland.

You see few people here in America who really care very much about living a Christian life in a democratic world.

We are marching backwards to the glorious age of the sixteenth century when bigots lighted fagots to burn men who dared to bring any intelligence and enlightenment and culture to the human mind.

Aside from a few odd words in Hebrew, I took it completely for granted that God had never spoken anything but the most dignified English.