Kumail Nanjiani Quotes

I've got friends from all walks of life.

The way I go about it is that we should all be inviting people into our lives who don't look like us, speak like us and don't come from where we come from.

If you aren't just brought up in your tribe but interact with other people either directly or vicariously, through journalism and literature, you see what life is like from other points of view and are less likely to demonize them or dehumanize others and more likely to empathize with them.

I don't even think places like the National Youth Theatre (NYT) are necessarily about wanting to be an actor when you grow up. They're about meeting people from different backgrounds and different religions and different cultures, and mixing with people that you wouldn't ordinarily meet.

For, to be a stranger is naturally a very positive relation; it is a specific form of interaction.

What I do is I always try to educate myself about my neighbors, about the people I meet.

I would say get to know somebody who isn't exactly like you and doesn't come from the same background as you, educate yourself and then just keep showing up. Finding ways to show up for people and your voice will come out of that relationship and out of your pursuit to seeing people who aren't exactly like you.

To have a diverse set of perspectives and backgrounds enables you to understand the market at large much more effectively.

I live in a world in which I have a very, very diverse group of friends.

You have to engage with people who are different from you and try to work with their thinking and their mind. That's a real challenge.

As an actor, you come in contact with so many different people and cultures. It makes you a more accepting person.

I think that diversity is key for the next American entrepreneurs. They want to be a part of this society where there is so much diversity they have to have people from all the experiences.

If everyone would look for that uniqueness then we would have a very colorful world.

If you come from a place of love, and you're not saying, 'I'm better than you,' that's one thing that allows you to talk about different ethnicities. It's almost like laughing with each other.

I think people have a right to their point of view.

All the lessons of psychiatry, psychology, social work, indeed culture, have taught us over the last hundred years that it is the acceptance of differences, not the search for similarities which enables people to relate to each other in their personal or family lives.

Given the fragility of contemporary civil and urban life … our problem is to solve the puzzle of how to live together in healthy, diverse communities.

I love the exploration of someone who has such a different background from you. That exploration runs to compassion and to cracking yourself open and creating more understanding of how weird and amazing life is.

When we're talking about diversity, it's not a box to check. It is a reality that should be deeply felt and held and valued by all of us.

The fact that societies are becoming increasingly multi-ethnic, multicultural, and multi-religious is good. Diversity is a strength, not a weakness.

I have actually been very fortunate that I've met a lot of really wonderful straight men in my life - and a lot of really wonderful gay men in my life.

We - what we need is a dialogue among civilizations. And we need multiculturalism, respect for diversity, tolerance, respect for diverse faiths.

I enjoy it; my experiences abroad have taught me the importance of an open mind and have given me a willingness to wander off the beaten path - not only to keep life interesting, but also to understand in a meaningful way that things do not look the same from every vantage point.

People need to seek out some diversity in their life. One of my friends is a pig farmer in Michigan, and even she has black friends. She's in the middle of nowhere - the closest airport is, like, three hours away - and she manages to connect with black people.

I think diversity is a challenge everywhere.