Lea Salonga Quotes

All I know is that I'm proud to be Filipino.

The Philippines, it might be said, is a country in search of an identity.

I was born in America, but I consider myself a Filipino.

I'm so Filipino. I'm fluent in Filipino.

I am proud to be Pinoy and I never forget where I came from.

It took me many years to understand that my identity is more Israeli than Jewish.

I'm really proud to be Filipino. Filipinos are really supportive, and I want to thank all of them. I love them!

My father is 100% Japanese and came to the United States when he was only 18 years old. My grandmother still resides in Japan, which has allowed me to travel to the roots of my ancestors with my father.

The way I see it is that all the ol' guff about being Irish is a kind of nonsense. I mean, I couldn't be anything else no matter what I tried to be. I couldn't be Chinese or Japanese.

It's just so funny that when I was growing up, I was very much of an Australian. I just thought it was funny that there was this war, like, 'No, she's ours, she's practically a Miss Australia.' But I am a Miss Philippines.

I am French. I was born here, I live here and France is my cultural identity.

I have never been to Jamaica and in footballing terms, I feel English because this is where I grew up and played all of my football. That is not to say I don't have immense pride in my Jamaican heritage - I certainly do.

I am pure Filipino; both my parents are Filipino.

I was raised in a dominantly Filipino family. I didn't know I was 'mixed' until I got older and started asking questions about my grandparents, the origins of our middle and last names. We were kind of textbook Pinoys. A lot of the Filipino stereotypes that were joked about by me and my friends rang very true with my family.

I'm German in my mind, but from a Germany that doesn't exist any more.

Well, I'm Czech, but Polish, Czech, no matter, it's my name.

A people's relationship to their heritage is the same as the relationship of a child to its mother.

Irish Americans are no more Irish than Black Americans are Africans.

I really hold on to my culture because it is what made me.

The fact is, I've always felt more British than Irish. Maybe it was the way I was brought up, I don't know, but I have always felt more of a connection with the U.K. than with Ireland.

I think there's something really painful about your identity being entirely composed of ghosts. For me, I didn't want to be this kid whose Dominicanness was something caught utterly in the past, is an abstraction, the thing that I write about. Instead I wanted it to be, first and foremost, a thing that I lived.

The homeland affects you directly: it affects your body; it affects the collective mind and the collective heart and the collective spirit.

My cultural roots are something illusive.

No, I'm not a French designer either. I'm from nowhere. I'm a European, old European is all I am.

I'm slowly feeling more Chinese and feel I should be more proud of being Chinese and appreciate where I've come from.