Quotes About Identity

To put it simply, as a black man, I started watching films at the age of six, and I've since seen the bad guys changing race - between the African savages, to the Native Americans, and then the blacks and the Arabs and the Chinese and the Vietnamese. Look at 'Rambo': it's exactly that.

My dad and I had been close - he called me Tuyet Bang, Vietnamese for 'avalanche,' because of my nonstop energy. I took a lot from him, like being a risk taker, and I know how much he loved my mother.

I grew up around Vietnamese refugees, around people who don't speak English as a first language.

And just as there was something of every Vietnamese in Ho Chi Minh so there is something of Ho Chi Minh in almost every present-day Vietnamese, so strong is his imprint on the Vietnamese nation.

I speak Vietnamese and conversational Spanish.

What about Hong Chau? In typical supporting-part fashion, she shows up halfway through 'Downsizing,' already shrunk, an imperious Vietnamese house cleaner with a limp and sharp angles. The movie's satirical cleverness upstages its rage; then Ms. Chau proves she's capable of managing both.

Vietnamese must be made to feel that they are racial inferiors with no right to national identity.

When I was growing up, Forest Park was full of integrated families. It was amazing. One my best friends was Vietnamese. Another one was half-Mexican, half-black. Another one was from Colombia. Another one was born in the U.S., but his mom was from Germany and spoke with a German accent. So we all had multiple identities.

I'm Vietnamese and Chinese, and I am the year of the dragon in the Chinese zodiac.

My parents always wanted me to learn about my culture and tried to make me eat Vietnamese food.

I embrace both my Vietnamese and American sides, 100 percent.

My parents would dress us up in traditional Vietnamese clothing to go to school for heritage day. We have a Vietnamese nanny that my parents wanted us to have so we could stay in touch and know where we came from.

There are several different traits that make up a person's identity. For me, being Vietnamese American is the entirety of who I am.

Every restaurant needs to have a point of view.

To me, graphic T-shirts are the most important and most expressive format for a designer or a person. Your taste in graphic tees says a lot about your point of view.

Our flag is not just one of many political points of view. Rather, the flag is a symbol of our national unity.

If your neighbor has a completely different view on abortion, gay marriage, stem cell research, all of those things, you still are both Americans. Neither one of you is necessarily more patriotic than the other. Neither loves their country any more than the other one does.

I can say, 'Well, I'm a male. I'm a male human. I'm a medical doctor. I'm an author...' If I go to a religious point of view, I will say, 'I am a soul. I am a spirit.' If I go into science, I will say, 'I am energy. I am light.' But the truth is I have no idea what I am.

I actually don't want a throne at all, because I don't view myself as a queen; I view myself as one of my fans.

The mirror is a powerful tool because it forces you to deal with yourself on a deeper level. Conceptually, paintings are like mirrors. They're an expression from the artist: 'This is how I view the world - I'm presenting it to you.'

Because when you are something people don't know quite how to define, it means you get more of an opportunity to define yourself to bring something new to the table, to bring a new view on things.

I don't necessarily view myself as a 'famous' person, I look at like Tom Cruise or Julia Roberts and think to myself, now that's a celebrity.

I don't view myself as a musician anymore - I view myself as a human being that functions as a musician when I'm functioning as a musician, but that's not 24 hours a day. That's really opened me up to even more perspectives because now I look at music, not from the standpoint of being a musician, but from the standpoint of being a human being.

Drag, in my view these days, has become the thing it used to make fun of - which is Jennifer Lopez. Now we all want to be her. We have stylists; we have special photographers.