Letty Cottin Pogrebin Quotes

The member of a primitive clan might express his identity in the formula "I am we"; he cannot yet conceive of himself as an "individual," existing apart from his group.

The truth of who we are is that we are because we belong.

I don't really know what 'community' means. And I never use that word.

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

Sports teams, people who follow sports teams, religion, churches, work - any company, I find that people just generally have a need to belong to something larger than themselves.

When I speak about 'we,' it gets very complex very quickly. Having grown up in the United States, but also being very much a member of Nigerian societies and also different parts of Nigerian societies, I understand that we construct particular 'we's.'

People are longing for tribe and community.

In my very own self, I am part of my family.

I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be one of so many, to have not just parents and siblings but cousins and aunts and uncles, an entire tribe to claim as your own. Maybe you would feel lost in the crowd. Or sheltered by it. Whatever the case, one things was for sure: like it or not, you'd never be alone.

The degree to which we connect to a community is in proportion to our individuality.

The trouble with me is that for a long time I have just been an I person. All people belong to a We except me. Not to belong to a We makes you too lonesome.

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.

Your tribe is out there, you just have to find them.

When you are part of a community for 14 years, it inevitably shapes you. I will always have a part of Ferrari beside me; a part of my heart will always be red.

Every human being has to feel a part of a tribe. It's programmed into us. And you have to feel that you're contributing to something.

Everyone desires relationships and community. Most people want to belong to a cohesive, like-minded group. It staves off loneliness. It promotes identity. These are natural and very human instincts.

Being Indian is not blood as much as it is culture.

South Central is just who I am.

Your ethnic or sexual identity, what region of the country you're from, what your class is - those aspects of your identity are not the same as your aesthetic identity.

We are what make up society.

The thing about being an Indian person is that you feel most at home with your own people.

We are looking to brands for poetry and for spirituality, because we're not getting those things from our communities or from each other.

I'm Creole, and I'm down to earth.

Even though I live in America more, I feel like when I go to Adelaide, that's when I get to go home.

I consider myself a human being, a Christian, a father, a husband, so many things, before being a black person.