Culture Quotes

"I think that one possible definition of our modern culture is that it is one in which nine-tenths of our intellectuals can't read any poetry"

Randall Jarrell, Poet

"In fact, I believe that we need better sex education in our own culture, here in America, so that young folk learn about things like venereal disease before they encounter it"

Piers Anthony, Writer

"Writing is about culture and should be about everything. That's what makes it what it is"

Irvine Welsh, Novelist

"I began demonstrating against serious culture. In hindsight, the actual course of events has been very humiliating for me, because no one picked up on the intellectual critique I made"

Henry Flynt, Artist

"Diligent as one must be in learning, one must be as diligent in forgetting; otherwise the process is one of pedantry, not culture"

Albert J. Nock, Philosopher

"Just learning to think in another language allows you to see your own culture in a better viewpoint"

Gates McFadden, Actress

"But the further step, by means of which a civilization is given its quality or culture, is only attained by a process of cellular division, in the course of which the individual is differentiated, made distinct from and independent of the parent group"

Herbert Read, Poet

"I have had lots of friends who've been affected by Aids and a very good friend of mine, Oscar Moore, died of Aids and I was with him in his last year quite a bit. And of course he was a man living in a very rich culture with a wealthy family who was able to afford health care"

Emma Thompson, Actress

"I'm a culture vulture, and I just want to experience it all"

Debbie Harry, Musician

"Looking at female candidates today, other women are the hardest on them, especially older women who were brought up in a different culture"

Eleanor Clift, Journalist

"The antagonism between the poet and the politician has generally been evident in all cultures"

Salvatore Quasimodo, Author

"Reality TV is sleazy, it is manipulative. It is as momentary as anything in popular culture"

Morley Safer, Journalist

"Zhang Yimou tried to use martial arts to talk about Chinese culture, Chinese people. What do they think, what do they want and what do they hope"

Jet Li, Actor

"I'm trying to trick people into thinking about the unthinkable by using pop culture images"

John Shirley, Author

"I don't think the idea of homosexuality is really taboo any more. Our culture is evolving. This is an exciting time to be living"

Andrew Lang, Poet

"I need to talk about Chinese culture. We have deep, strong philosophy and culture. I want to share some information, tell the worldwide audience"

Jet Li, Actor

"I wouldn't be surprised if some day, they put the Simpsons in the Smithsonian. It's become part of our culture, those characters"

Joe Mantegna, Actor

"A few words of Hindi appear here or there, but it's all Urdu. I feel that if the popular culture, which is what Hindi films are, uses Urdu, it's not going to diminish"

Ismail Merchant, Producer

"Samurai culture did exist really, for hundreds of years and the notion of people trying to create some sort of a moral code, the idea that there existed certain behaviors that could be celebrated and that could be operative in a life"

Edward Zwick, Director

"The worth of a civilization or a culture is not valued in the terms of its material wealth or military power, but by the quality and achievements of its representative individuals - its philosophers, its poets and its artists"

Herbert Read, Poet

"For these cultures, getting rid of the pain without addressing the deeper cause would be like shutting off a fire alarm while the fire's still going"

David Foster Wallace, Writer

"A lot of people in my world - in the acting world - have either lost friends to Aids or live with HIV because its origin in our culture, in New York for instance, was in the gay community"

Emma Thompson, Actress

"Two thousand years ago, we lived in a world of Gods and Goddesses. Today, we live in a world solely of Gods. Women in most cultures have been stripped of their spiritual power"

Dan Brown, Author

"Education must, be not only a transmission of culture but also a provider of alternative views of the world and a strengthener of the will to explore them"

Jerome S. Bruner

"We should have a State in which we could live and breathe as free men and which we could develop according to our own lights and culture and where principles of Islamic social justice could find free play"

Muhammad Ali Jinnah, Politician

"After 9/11, we realized that all these silly culture wars, and arguing about rock lyrics... who cares? You know, we, for some reason, remembered what our real problems are"

Frank Rich, Journalist

"The whole surf culture is starting to embrace women a lot more"

Michelle Rodriguez, Actress

"The Chinese culture belongs not only to the Chinese but also to the whole world"

Jinato Hu

"But again, we, I think, over the years have set the example for a lot of nations that may not have had the same values, the same type of coming out of the same culture that we as Americans have and enjoy. But we can be an example, a role model for them"

Hugh Shelton, Soldier

"America is the only country capable of producing national movies: its culture has become a global culture"

Jean-Jacques Annaud, Director

"The Madden NFL franchise holds a special place in popular culture and the cover is a coveted position for players all over the league. I'm honored to be the first cover athlete chosen by Madden NFL fans and it's a great way to cap off an amazing year for the Saints and the city of New Orleans"

Drew Brees, Athlete

"If most American cities are about the consumption of culture, Los Angeles and New York are about the production of culture - not only national culture but global culture"

Barbara Kruger, Artist

"Poverty is multidimensional. It extends beyond money incomes to education, health care, political participation and advancement of one's own culture and social organisation"

Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Statesman

"It's not worth it, it's not about money, especially when you're dealing with a culture. It should be about elevating the idea of what we are and who we are as people in the cinema, and that kind of stuff keeps dragging us back down"

Antoine Fuqua, Director

"From blood banking to the modern subway, from jazz to social justice, the contributions of African Americans have shaped and molded and influenced our national culture and our national character"

Bill Frist, Politician

"In traditional schools, you're penalized for making a mistake. But that won't work in the new information culture, in the digital world we live in today"

Daniel Greenberg, Educator

"This great, though disastrous, culture can only change as we begin to stand off and see... the inveterate materialism which has become the model for cultures around the world"

Arthur Erickson, Architect

"I grew up on a farm, and we didn't have cable and only limited radio stations, so I wasn't inundated with culture the way people in other parts of the country were. But I was really interested in it"

Chuck Klosterman, Critic

"Pop culture is great, but it can be bad, at times"

Aisha Tyler, Actress

"Pop culture hales you and wants you to fail"

Aisha Tyler, Actress

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