Quotes About Culture

To the extent that I come from a deeply religious tradition and have been contending with those beginnings all of my life - that constitutes the subject of much of my early fiction.

The actual God of many Americans... is simply the current of American life.

It's more important to promote a culture of life. What I mean by that is that I believe what we need to do is not change the law, but change hearts.

I think hip hop should be a living word. And what I mean by the living word is like yo, you gotta have the words that provide life.

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

I've always felt lucky because my parents included my sister and I in their cultural life.

The various modes of worship which prevailed in the Roman world were all considered by the people as equally true; by the philosopher as equally false; and by the magistrate as equally useful.

The five marks of the Roman decaying culture: Concern with displaying affluence instead of building wealth; Obsession with sex and perversions of sex; Art becomes freakish and sensationalistic instead of creative and original; Widening disparity between very rich and very poor; Increased demand to live off the state.

Edward Gibbon, in his classic work on the fall of the Roman Empire, describes the Roman era's declension as a place where "bizarreness masqueraded as creativity.

When you tell me you have been satisfied at a modern theatre, you prove that it is not only the art which has degenerated, but that a proportion of the audience has degenerated also. But do not let this depress you.

Gene would be the first to tell you it doesn't matter what alien race you're talking about, how hideous they seem to be. There are no bad aliens; each of them has a culture that must be defined, recognized, and appreciated for what it is.

We live in a superficial, media-driven culture that often seems uncomfortable with true depths of feeling. Indeed, it seems as if our culture has become increasingly intolerant of that acute sorrow, that intense mental anguish and deep remorse which may be defined as grief. We want to medicate such sorrow away. We want to divide it into recognizable stages so that grief can be labeled, tamed, and put behind us.

In its most limited sense, modern, art would seem to concern itself only with the technical innovations of the period.

In general it can be said that a nation's art is greatest when it most reflects the character of its people.

immorality, materialism, and godlessness.

Explicitly connecting how people describe the natural world in different ways is a top conservation priority.

You get more churches burned down in the United States in the last two years than in the last hundred, because of the lack of understanding of culture and diversity and the beauty of it.

whether in London's ornate arcades or Rio's fractious favelas, whether in the high-rises of Hong Kong or the dusty workspaces of Dharavi, our culture, our prosperity, and our freedom are all ultimately gifts of people living, working, and thinking together—the ultimate triumph of the city.

Then the pernicious charm of Italy worked on her, and, instead of acquiring information, she began to be happy.

It is not that the Englishman can't feel-it is that he is afraid to feel. He has been taught at his public school that feeling is bad form. He must not express great joy or sorrow, or even open his mouth too wide when he talks-his pipe might fall out if he did.

Especially in a small organization, it was important that everyone work well together. As I was unable to tell from an interview how a new hire would mesh with our corporate culture, I told everyone that they were temporary for the first six months, as were we for them. Sometime during that period, if we mutually agreed, they would become regular employees.

to get hold of the human condition, we need next a much broader definition of history than is conventionally used.

It should not be thought that war, often accompanied by genocide, is a cultural artifact of a few societies. Nor has it been an aberration of history, a result of the growing pains of our species' maturation. Wars and genocide have been universal and eternal, respecting no particular time or culture.

TO FORM GROUPS, drawing visceral comfort and pride from familiar fellowship, and to defend the group enthusiastically against rival groups—these are among the absolute universals of human nature and hence of culture.