Daniel Dennett Quotes

Preservation of one's own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.

Believing in each culture's right to be understood by the other party without any form of falseness or distortion is paramount.

We must teach the next generation to not just learn languages, but whole cultures and belief systems. We will then make more of an effort to understand people and their different cultures.

Forgive him, for he believes that the customs of his tribe are the laws of nature!

There will be no room, here, for the smug myopia which views American civilization as the final solution to all world problems; which recommends our institutions for universal adoption and turns away with contempt from the serious study of the institutions of peoples whose civilizations may seem to us to be materially less advanced.

The world looks different and is understood differently at every spot on earth. Without accepting this simple truth it is hard for us to grasp the behavior of others, the motives and aims of those actions.

The idea of multiculturalism, that every culture is equal - that's not objectively true.

People are equal, cultures are not.

Some things are really sacred and important to other cultures, so you have to be aware, politically, about those things before you just adopt them.

Immigrants have to adopt our values, not the other way around.

We should wake up and tell ourselves: You're not a xenophobe, you're not a racist, you're not a crazy guy if you say, 'My culture is better than yours.'

I don't think that people understand enough about each other's cultures any more.

The PC way of handling culture has been to not talk about it. But we should be talking about it.

There's a kind of integrity to being an observer of a culture. I think Canadians have that privilege innately. We are, like, the observers of the American culture.

Wherever you go, respect the local culture or you will suffer.

There's a difference between being culturally insensitive - being insensitive towards a culture - and being insensitive.

There's the fine line between presenting your culture and learning about other cultures so it becomes global.

I remember always going to the train station where I grew up, and on the wall was written, 'The real wealth of a nation is diversity of cultures.' Where I grew up, that's what I saw, and that's what I believe in as well - and I still believe it.

Others think their American ways will work in other countries. That's not always accurate and can be disrespectful to the local culture.

I think that we in the West expect people to adapt to our culture very, very quickly when they come to our country. But when we go over to someone else's, I don't think we are willing to meet them halfway like we expect them to meet us. I think having cultural sensitivity is a lot more important than we realize.

Culture has no logic.

A lot of issues that we have in the world today rise from the fact that we do not know enough about each other's cultures, that we don't respect each other's origins and there is so much negativity and strife around because we don't know where the other person is coming from.

We really pride ourselves on the notion that what makes our program special is that we really do our very best to make sure that everything we do is culturally responsive and relevant.

I think we should appreciate ethnicity and diversity, and appreciate the uniqueness of all people, but I don't think we should be ethnocentric. These things are not ultimate.

When you care about the culture, you can stop, pause, and say, "Okay, where do I stand in the midst of this all?"