Steven Levitan Quotes

I think it's really, really important to grow the consensus and to realize that there is always some value that can be shared with another American, on any issue. Starting from those points of common belief and shared values is very, I think, important to forging the consensus that allows these issues to more forward.

President Obama celebrates diversity, yet instinctively seeks common ground and builds on that common ground to make progress.

I know there is strength in the differences between us. I know there is comfort where we overlap.

We simply must find ways both to bridge the differences that still seem to divide us and focus on the things that we share.

I have tried to treat people on the other side civilly and look for common ground.

Finding common ground means reaching out with respect and aloha - despite the issues that divide us, despite the hurt, despite the fear - and recognize what unites us as human beings.

I think that when we strip people down, most of us want the same things. People just have very different views of how to get there.

While we celebrate our diversity, what surprises me time and time again as I travel around the constituency is that we are far more united and have far more in common with each other than things that divide us.

It's a very important thing to learn to talk to people you disagree with.

I have sung for Americans of every political persuasion, and I am proud that I never refuse to sing to an audience, no matter what religion or color of their skin, or situation in life.

I write a world where everyone is partly right.

We may have our private opinions but why should they be a bar to the meeting of hearts?

My own experience is use the tools that are out there. Use the digital world. But never lose sight of the need to reach out and talk to other people who don't share your view. Listen to them and see if you can find a way to compromise.

If everyone could learn that what is right for me does not make it right for anyone else, the world would be a much happier place.

Dialogue between people of differing views is critical for fostering understanding in a democracy.

I think that no matter how dark a person is, the more you learn about them, the more you understand about their life, the more you can sympathize with them or even root for them.

Our democratic richness arrives when we're able to comprehend our collective humanity accurately.

To be treated well in places where you don't expect to be treated well, to find things in common with people you thought previously you had very, very little in common with, that can't be a bad thing.

Tolerance, like any aspect of peace, is forever a work in progress, never completed, and, if we're as intelligent as we like to think we are, never abandoned.

I think the way to keep a friendship is to respect that everybody is different.

I've traveled around the world, and what's so revealing is that, despite the differences in culture, politics, language, how people dress, there is a universal feeling that we all want the same thing. We deeply want to be respected and appreciated for our differences.

Yes, we are all different. Different customs, different foods, different mannerisms, different languages, but not so different that we cannot get along with one another. If we will disagree without being disagreeable.

I enjoy playing people that are totally different than me.

For too long, we have focused on our differences - in our politics and backgrounds, in our race and beliefs - rather than cherishing the unity and pride that binds us together.

You've got to respect people; you've got to understand where they come from. We know where people in Oklahoma come from - that's why we get along.