Quotes About Culture

Listen, I have been educated. I have learned about Western Civilization. Do you know What the message of Western Civilization is? I am alone.

If boys were always trying to get in girls' pants, what did they want? What could the girls give them? Pee it seemed to me was an appropriate gift.

The American cult of rugged individualism makes human men think they're all supposed to be alphas, but it doesn't work that way.

God. Jesus. -Any other Lords' names you want to take in vain? -Yeah...Ganesh, damn it. -Who's Ganesh? -He's a Hindu god. He's the Remover of Obstacles. -Oh yeah? They got a god for that? We could use a Remover of Obstacles. Well, I don't care if you take a Hindu god's name in vain--just lay off Jesus. -Okay, Dad. I'll lay off Jesus. -What's this Remover of Obstacles look like? -I think he's an elephant. -Yeah? An elephant. Jesus Christ, can you believe that?

The most effective and resilient organizations are those that have created cultures in which continuous learning is a foundational element of their mission and guiding principles.

Enlighten your life with history.

Why? Oh, Holy Cow!" I groaned. "Please not to use these ridiculous expressions," he exploded in exasperation. "I have never heard any other Americans use them except those—what do you call them—those cartoon animals. Mickey Mouse." "Micky Mice," I said firmly.

Our culture has an idea of competition in the pursuit of excellence that can make anyone not striving for the top feel like a worthless, non-productive bystander. This applies not only to one's career but even to one's leisure.

The ideal personality is embodied, in Mead's words, in "every thread of the social fabric–in the care of the young child, the games the children play, the songs the people sing, the political organization, the religious observance, the art and the philosophy." Other traits are ignored, discouraged, or if all else fails, ridiculed. What is the ideal in our culture?

But psychology is not perfect. It can only reflect the biases of the culture from which it comes.

anthropologists speak of ritual leadership and ritual space.

As I have emphasized, HSPs are prone to low self-esteem because they are not their culture's ideal.

It was as if [highly sensitive subjects] found it natural to look beyond their cultural expectations to how things "really are.

Think about the impact on you of not being ideal for your culture. It has to affect you—not only how others have treated you but also how you have come to treat yourself.

The idea of a persona goes against North American culture's admiration of openness and authenticity. Europeans have a far better grasp of the value of not saying everything that one is thinking. Yet

In our culture, however, possessing this trait is not considered ideal and that fact probably has had a major impact on you. Well-meaning parents and teachers probably tried to help you "overcome" it, as if it were a defect. Other children were not always as nice about it. As an adult, it has probably been harder to find the right career and relationships and generally to feel self-worth and self-confidence.

An American writer who had come to visit France . . . asked quite naturally what it was that had kept me here so long. . . It was useless to answer him in words. I suggested instead that we take a stroll through the streets. —HENRY MILLER ON LIVING IN PARIS

The French are obsessed with history, partly out of a genuine affinity for the past, partly from a desire to cling to lost glory.

Consuming alcohol in public is allowed in France, which means drinkers overflow onto the sidewalk, especially on the Montmartre stretch. But it rarely gets out of control.

Angela has a boyfriend. Actually, he's a friend with benefits." "What's that?" Grandma said. "It means she likes him, and she sleeps with him sometimes when she feels like it." "In my day, we called that a husband," Grandma said.

I am thankful I was born in America, although if I gain any more weight the burqa thing may start to seem like a good idea to me. See? Another plus about America, you can always find some food.

College football is a sport that bears the same relation to education that bullfighting does to agriculture.

This will never be a civilized country until we spend more money for books than we do for chewing gum.

This will never be a civilized country until we expend more money for books than we do for chewing gum.