Rana el Kaliouby Quotes

Criticize the act, not the person.

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

Cultural differences can be delicate situations we have to work within the respectful boundaries of.

If you're playing with somebody from another idiom, you can't react to them in the same way that you react to somebody that is closer to your idiom. You don't fall into the same habits. You find a new way of communicating.

If I can make one generalised statement, and generalised statements are never entirely true, nobody wants to be talked down to, kids included.

The two cultures of East and West are very different, and the priorities are very different. So when you understand that - if you are from this side or this side - when you understand that the other is different than you, and you respect these differences, you can build communication.

I say the same thing that I've said for decades now, which is: don't go over to Japan trying to change it, thinking that you know better. Go there trying to understand.

The first condition of understanding a foreign country is to smell it.

I don't think anyone could write about another culture and get it 100 percent accurate.

Where I'm from, we don't do the kiss-on-the-cheek thing. Sometimes we can feel a bit awkward in England. Someone needs to let me know what the rules are because I don't want to be rude. I need a little more etiquette coaching.

It was nice to be in my own country, where I didn't need a translator or a driver. Where I didn't need to figure out cultural references or what hijab I needed to wear to cover my hair.

In Asia, personal relationships are important, but you cannot personalise diplomacy.

I'd like to set a story in Australia, but I would need to feel confident my German and U.S. readers, for example, would stay with me.

Iranians find Americans easy to deal with because they are straightforward. That … could give Iranians an advantage in any negotiations. But for Americans to understand Iranians, they must recognize that with Iranians the mind thinks something, the head feels something else, the tongue says something else, and manners do something else. It doesn’t mean people are lying. They are just dealing with you with a different character.

Value the perspective of different cultures and recognize the cultural mores that underpin groups and appreciate why these are valued and important.

China is a company of contradictions. Nothing is what it appears to be. We have to be extremely respectful when we go overseas.

Every culture is different in terms of what is taboo and what is acceptable. I grew up in Singapore, where people are very mindful of that. One can see that as restriction or as consideration for a fellow person living within a shared environment.

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

It's difficult to identify why two cultures will react differently to the same sport.

In Korea, if a player makes a mistake, the other players don't like to point it out. Rather, they try to embrace it; they take the attitude, 'Let's do better next time.' But in the West, if you do something wrong, another player will make a point of saying something, and you will have to fix it immediately.

Constructive criticism is not much accepted in the Caribbean.

Different cultures have different audiences.

You can't share things about India with Americans, as they don't seem interested. Their culture is different.

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 when you move to a country like the U.S., you need to understand the culture, to understand how people see the game, and adapt yourself.