Ioan Gruffudd Quotes

As an actor, you come in contact with so many different people and cultures. It makes you a more accepting person.

Travelers learn not just foreign customs and curious cuisines and unfamiliar beliefs and novel forms of government. They learn, if they are lucky, humility.

I really would like to be involved in things and to understand things, and in some ways you've got to be careful what you wish for because I feel very, very blessed to have such an interesting life and to be able to have little snapshots of lives of people from many different parts of the world.

When I was younger, I used to hate Germany. I hated the country, the people, the language, the culture, everything! But over the years I've grown to really appreciate the German people.

The American attitude is 'We're the best'. That's why the NBA guys who come from other countries, the Europeans, all sort of stick together away from the game.

I have a multicultural background, so I tend to have an open mind about things, and I find other cultures interesting.

I think stupid people are surprised that I'm Australian. It's a small-minded; we live in a global community, but I suppose some people still are small-minded.

I'm happiest with people who've gotten furthest from traditional ideas of nationalism.

Living in different cultures helped me work out who I was going to be, separate from where I came from.

It is not easy to see how the more extreme forms of nationalism can long survive when men have seen the Earth in its true perspective as a single small globe against the stars.

I am certainly not racist; I even like the British.

I do think New York prepares you for the crossection of personalities and realities on display when you leave the country, and I'd live somewhere else if I had a reason or burning-the-the-point-of-discomfort desire to do so.

Patriotism is a sham when it lets out the howl that the people of another nation are a pack of beasts and criminals, unrelated to the human family

Discrimination still exists. Some people feel that their own beliefs are being threatened. Some are unhappy about unfamiliar cultures. They all need to be reassured that there is so much to be gained by reaching out to others; that diversity is indeed a strength and not a threat.

I guess I just don't see America as separate from Vietnam or Ethiopia. This mentality of 'our team's better than yours' - it's a high school idea. My kids don't see those dividing lines, and I don't want to either.

Growing up in Wales, there was a lot of fervour about being Welsh. But the more that I travelled, I realised that people aren't always interested in where you're from, but who you are.

I enjoy it; my experiences abroad have taught me the importance of an open mind and have given me a willingness to wander off the beaten path - not only to keep life interesting, but also to understand in a meaningful way that things do not look the same from every vantage point.

A lot of the attitude I used to have about being from New York when I was younger just disappeared when I started to the rest of the world.

You never really know what's inspired you or made you who you are, but I was really lucky that I got to grow up in places like Japan and Hong Kong that are super energetic and have this intensity to them.

I can empathise with different cultural expressions and am open to things that seem strange at first sight.

I travel all the time. And as I go around the world, I try to learn a little something and not just take up all the available air.

You have to go to other countries to realize Taipei is a place where there is diversity of thought.

I grew up around a mix of a lot of people, so I got a lot of different perspectives. As a kid, I appreciated that.

Here I am, back in Mecca. I am still traveling, trying to broaden my mind, for I've seen too much of the damage narrow-mindedness can make of things, and when I return home to America, I will devote what energies I have to repairing the damage.

I think it's good that you test the reality that surrounds you in your neighbourhood with the reality as it is in other parts of the world; you come up with a better judgment. I'm not meaning that literally you can only do that and not go to school at all but in terms of enrichment of a personality I think it's a fabulous thing.