Bari Weiss Quotes

As I stand here today and tell you about these, I am heavy with an awareness of the fact that I am in more than one sense a product of both the Chinese and Western cultures, in harmony and in conflict.

The strength of a culture depends on its capacity to open itself up to other cultures, to integrate itself into them and to integrate them into it.

Multiculturalism may well be our saviour, wresting us out from the straitjacket of our history, thrusting the old continent into an environment where other ethnicities, less cynical and more positive, will play a big role in its future.

The salt of any interesting civilization is mixture.

I am constantly swimming on the margin, neither 100% American, French, nor Lebanese. I am none of those. I am the result of those three. Sometimes it's an asset: no one can put you in a category. That I do not make typical Lebanese, European or American films does not bother me.

The diversity of America is a strength of the country, and I don't think that we use that. We don't talk about our strengths. I mean, having so many diverse people in this country from all aspects of all over the world, and we don't use that. I think we should talk about who we are - that melting pot that we've become.

You can't stop what comes into a country, you can be influenced, but you can't stop it, you shouldn't, because it makes all the others interesting, we all get muddled up together, and produce something that belongs to everyone.

I'm very optimistic because I think that the real strength of a nation like the United States comes from blending cultures. There's no way that you can close the frontiers anywhere. The borders are there to be violated permanently.

I am hopeful that the concept of 'cultural appropriation' is a passing fad: people with different backgrounds rubbing up against each other and exchanging ideas and practices is self-evidently one of the most productive, fascinating aspects of modern urban life.

I don't think there is only one Arab culture or a pure Arabness. We are very multiple, especially our generation, which is very multilayered.

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.

I mix things from my Somali culture and my American side.

I'm a fan of mixing cultures together.

I have a lot of cultures within me - I'm basically chop suey.

We are taking our culture and suturing it to America. Like gum on the bottom of a shoe, we are not going to disappear. Unlike other peoples who totally assimilated, we are more interested in co-assimilation.

The Hispanic culture is finding its way into the American culture. Places like Miami are going to be centers for that influence - places like Los Angeles and, certainly, cities in Texas.

I grew up having two different perspectives - one in English, one in Spanish. Two different cultures, very different - but I think that, to me, it's one. I'm just as American as I feel Latin.

I don't think you lose culture because you act different cultures.

Canada was conceived of by men of two different equally rich cultures, of two distinctive communities. Bilingualism and biculturalism are facts of Canadian life and should not be hidden or avoided. They're important, even vital to Canada as a nation, but they’re assets, not liabilities, positive factors, not negative ones.

The question really isn't whether I'm American, Russian, Iranian, Azerbaijani, or anything else. I've been shaped by all these people and cultures and I feel quite comfortable among all of them

What goes into the Melting Pot determines what shall come out of it.

When you bring multiple cultures together, there's a degree of push and pull.

I feel like I've mixed my Middle Eastern and Western loves together.

Deep down inside, I'm really a black girl stuck in a Mexican girl's body. But I'm also in touch with my inner white girl and my inner Asian girl. I feel like a little bit of everybody.

I ended up very American and very Indonesian and a little bit of a lot of things.