Sam Harris Quotes

We are undermining a generation's happiness by depriving them of national identity, religious identity, and gender identity

I love my heritage both as someone who grew up as a Muslim and as an Indian - it's part of who I am and I would never deny it.

I am Jewish, Italian, American, Catholic.

Christianity has not conquered nationalism; the opposite has been the case nationalism has made Christianity its footstool.

Am I Latin? Am I American? What the hell am I? I love my culture and I'm very proud of my culture.

The fact that I am not Jewish by religion does not prevent me from connecting to the Jewish nation's spirituality.

My national identity is first American. My religious identity is first Muslim.

Oh, I love labels, as long as they are numerous. I'm an American writer. I'm a Nigerian writer. I'm a Nigerian American writer. I'm an African writer. I'm a Yoruba writer. I'm an African American writer.

Orthodox Jews often ask you: "Are you an Israeli first, or a Jew?" I see no difference between the two. After all, I'm also simultaneously the son of my parents, the husband of my wife and the father of my children.

One is a member of a country, a profession, a civilization, a religion. One is not just a man.

I am by heritage a Jew, by citizenship a Swiss, and by makeup a human being, and only a human being, without any special attachment to any state or national entity whatsoever.

The identity of just one thing, the "clash of civilization" view that you're a Muslim or a Hindu or a Buddhist or a Christian, I think that's such a limited way of seeing humanity, and schools have the opportunity to bring out the fact that we have hundreds of identities. We have our national identity. We have our cultural identity, linguistic identity, religious identity. Yes, cultural identity, professional identity, all kinds of ways.

I'm not a woman! Let's make that very clear! Oh I don't know, maybe I am. I am an American woman. Or 65 percent of me is.

A love of tradition has never weakened a nation.

Where can an interrogation lead us which does not follow reason in its horizontal course, but seeks to retrace in time that constant vertically which confronts European culture with what it is not?

What is love of one's country; is it hate of one's uncountry? Then it's not a good thing.

All over the world today people have a very strong desire to find a sense of identity, and at the same time that's coupled with the rise of absolutely absurd wars that relate to ethnic identity. Perhaps there is something deeply ingrained in people that relates to a sense of belonging, and without that, identity doesn't seem as real as it should.

I've left the Church - for many reasons that I've written about publicly - but it's still a large part of my identity, and I still have my faith, if not my Church.

We're born first humans then after they stamp our passport.

I've never felt more American than I did when I moved to England. It becomes a real kind of part of your identity: "Oh, Ben. He's the American guy." I think when you say you're from New York you get a different reception then if you just say, "I'm American." So I'd always kind of make sure I was a New Yorker first.

One of the reasons the Europeans don't like the Muslims is because they are religious. Americans like the fact that they are religious. They just don't like the form it takes.

Nations which don't find their national identities will be preyed upon by other nations.

The demographics are changing - and so what? Citizenship is a question of certain agreed-upon values and that is that. Do we believe that? I think at heart we do.

A love for tradition has never weakened a nation, indeed it has strengthened nations in their hour of peril.

A Canadian is someone who keeps asking the question, 'What is a Canadian?