Joanna Newsom Quotes

The genius, wit, and the spirit of a nation are discovered by their proverbs.

I love folk; that's a big part of my background.

Distinctly American poetry is usually written in the context of one's geographic landscape, sometimes out of one's cultural myths, and often with reference to gender and race or ethnic origins.

I've always been fascinated by the grassroots folktale level of a culture, and as a storyteller, I have to follow what seems to be leading me on.

Queen Victoria did not regard art, letters, or music as in any way springing from national character: they were something quite apart, elegant decorations resembling a scarf or a bracelet, and in no way expressive of the soul of the country.

I think there's something really painful about your identity being entirely composed of ghosts. For me, I didn't want to be this kid whose Dominicanness was something caught utterly in the past, is an abstraction, the thing that I write about. Instead I wanted it to be, first and foremost, a thing that I lived.

I love traditions. I mean, cultural ones.

I don't think my work does reflect my nationality - I don't like the idea of nationalism.

But now all of a sudden some idiots in Taiwan start to say that they are not Chinese. Their grand parents were Chinese. But for some reason, they feel they are not Chinese.

In these confused times, the role of classical music is at the very core of the struggle to reassert cultural and ethical values that have always characterized our country and for which we have traditionally been honored and respected outside our shores.

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

The way I see it is that all the ol' guff about being Irish is a kind of nonsense. I mean, I couldn't be anything else no matter what I tried to be. I couldn't be Chinese or Japanese.

I don't feel any connection to Russia.

The art of a people is a true mirror to their minds.

A nation that has no music and no fairytales is a tragedy.

The history of every country begins in the heart of a man or woman.

A nation is a work of art and a work of time.

We of French origin have the sentiment of our own individuality. We want to hand down to our children the language we received from our forefathers.

Is it true that we must accept the music of another race as being that which is American? Have not the white Americans sufficient individuality to develop a characteristic style of composition.

A country can be judged by the quality of its proverbs.

Nationalism usually conquers in the name of a putative folk culture.

The greatest guarantee for the preservation of a person’s identity is language and faith, and all Armenians must carry these two values.

The greatest guarantee for the preservation of a person’s identity is language and faith, and all Armenians must carry these two values.

It is important to recognize that folklore is not simply a way of obtaining available date about identity for social scientists; it is actually one of the principal means by which an individual and a group discovers or establishes his or its identity.

National identity does not figure in the Tamil way of thinking.