Leyla Zana Quotes

A common language is critical to cohesion and national identity in an ethnically diverse society

The great social adventure of America is no longer the conquest of the wilderness but the absorption of fifty different peoples.

Human cultural diversity is vast; the range of cultural practices, beliefs, and languages that we speak is vast.

I am optimistic that peace can be achieved in the region because I believe that every society on earth can be free and that if freedom comes to the Middle East, there can be peace.

During the long process of history, by relying on our own diligence, courage and wisdom, Chinese people have opened up a good and beautiful home where all ethnic groups live in harmony and fostered an excellent culture that never fades.

Sectarian divide has created a schism in our society that is a major challenge. As monarch of all Bahrainis, it pains me to see many harmed by the actions of a few. And yet I am optimistic and have faith in our people. We all realize that now is the time to strike a balance between stability and gradual reform.

Sudan has been an experiment that resonated across Africa: if we, the largest country on the continent, reaching from the Sahara to the Congo, bridging religions, cultures and a multitude of ethnicities, were able to construct a prosperous and peaceful state from our diverse citizenry, so too could the rest of Africa.

In this part of the world, Jews and Arabs will live together forever.

I will go on my knees and ask the Liberian people to participate in bringing peace and stability to our country.

If we don't find some way that the different ethnic groups can live together in a country, how many countries will we have? We'll have 5,000 countries rather than the hundred plus we have now.

I do not believe in a clash of civilizations in this world. As Turkey we are in an ideal position to be a bridge….We have been able to show that a Moslem country can have a strong democracy…. We have to have a common platform to fight against terrorism. All terrorists are bad no matter what religion the come from.

I think that's what makes many Swedes jealous of immigrant groups. You have a culture, an identity, a history, something that brings you together. And what do we have? We have Midsummer's Eve and such silly things.

I am Catalan. Catalonia had the first democratic Parliament much before England. And it was in my country where there was a beginning of united nations. At that time—the eleventh Century—they met in Toulouse—today in France—to speak about peace, because the Catalonian people of that time were already against war. That is why, the United Nations, which work only for the ideal of peace, are in my heart, because everything relating to peace goes directly there.

A constitution can permit the co-existence of several cultures and ethnic groups with a single state

The main hope of harmony in our troubled world lies rather in the plurality of our identities, which intertwine with each other and are resistant to drastic divisions

… sooner or later the Armenian-Turkish relations will be normalized since closed borders between States is a non-sense in the 21st century, and rulers can find themselves in an unenviable position if they fail to keep up with the global developments.

The New Mainstream, is the future strength of the American economic engine. I believe we need to stop thinking and acting as minorities, as none of the numbers support that concept anymore. We should even shun the term “People of Color,” which feels a little too much like “Colored People” reversed, to me. Besides I would imagine if we used the term “People Without Color,” that wouldn’t set well with those that it would be a descriptor of. We are all Americans (every color race and creed) all with unique cultural contributions that are part of the greater fabric of this country.

I've spent my entire adult life encouraging minority communities to get involved in mainstream society, civic society.

In the American 'melting pot,' identity politics wants to smash that pot - to bring us back to the Dark Ages, when collaboration was sparse.

My love of South Africa is not gray; it's not vague. It's very specific. It's in keeping with our Constitution - 'Unity in diversity.'

It is so important for European countries, post-Second World War, to prove that they can be successful multiethnic and multiracial democracies. I think we in Britain have had great success in avoiding the hatreds and prejudices of the past.

The concept of multiculturalism is difficult to make fit with a democratic society.

People who refuse to integrate into our society and want to live apart in their ghetto don't make our society strong.

Extreme multiculturalism... is not the way to build this country.

Individual acts have made Europe a civilized place and are key to its development. We must not forget it.