Gao Xingjian Quotes

I'm American; I was born and raised in America, and I don't want to fake who I am to fit a stereotype.

I think of myself as being Jewish and Irish, despite the fact that I'm English.

I'm very proud of my roots, and I would never try not to be who I am.

Just why I sent it to the publishers would be hard to say, but when I had finished it I felt that it was literature, because it is real and because it was well written. And I know that the world wants such things.

Identity in America is complicated but it's also simple: it's about whom you identify with and who identifies with you.

I am not a Hollywood Jew and I won't ever be one.

My heart is half Puerto Rican, half Canadian. That is how I feel.

I used to object to being called an Indian writer, and would always say I was a writer who happened to be an Indian, and who happened to write about Indians.

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

Everybody wants to say who they are and where they're from. And the easiest and cheapest and most universal way of doing that is through their accent.

I didn't emphasize my Jewishness because I wanted to. I just happen to have been raised in a family where everybody happened to talk like this, so why would I talk like somebody else?

Language and identity are so fundamentally intertwined. You peel back all the layers in terms of what we wear and what we eat and all the things that mark us, and in the end, what we have are our words.

I don't consider myself an Iranian comedian; I consider myself a comedian who happens to be of Iranian descent.

I don't really know what feeling Japanese or Haitian or American is supposed to feel like. I just feel like me.

Being Nigerian is a strong part of my identity. Being American is a strong part of my identity. And there are important parts of who I am that really have nothing to do with my national connection.

England gave me a chance. It's a very individual country where people have a personal style; they don't all follow a trend. The subtlety and wit of England is incredible, and they are very creative.

But what I'm very interested in, whether it's writing, whether it's hosting a show, whether it's cooking food, I'm just into the discussions of identity, culture and the politics of culture.

I was brought up in many different cultures, moving around all the time, and I find my identity in my songs. I project the identity I want to have throughout the songs that I write.

I don't call myself Latin, I call myself Puerto Rican.

I am a woman, and I am a Latina. Those are the things that make my writing distinctive. Those are the things that give my writing power.

I'm certainly proud to be Cuban American, and it's a fantastic opportunity for anybody - regardless of their ethnicity or nationality. It does carry a measure or pride to know where you're from and to know what your roots are.

I made the character as much of myself as I could.

I'm Irish, yeah, but I don't need to get up on a soapbox about it.

But I don't think of myself as a foreigner or a Frenchman! I just think of myself as a director. Whether I'm French or Australian or whatever, it's really not important.

I'm of Arab background.