Yolandi Visser Quotes

I'm of Arab background.

There is a pride in speaking this language.

A nation is the totality of people who speak the same language.

The greatest guarantee for the preservation of a person’s identity is language and faith, and all Armenians must carry these two values.

The greatest guarantee for the preservation of a person’s identity is language and faith, and all Armenians must carry these two values.

A nation is not a linguistic unit. The English-speaking peoples, whether under the Union Jack or not, are, with one exception, not English; neither are the German-speaking Swiss and Austrians German, nor the French-speaking Swiss and Belgians and Canadians French.

I consider myself half Spanish.

Every day I think about where I come from and I am still proud to be who I am: first, a Kabyle from La Castellane, then an Algerian from Marseille, and then a Frenchman.

I don't call myself Latin, I call myself Puerto Rican.

I'm certainly proud to be Cuban American, and it's a fantastic opportunity for anybody - regardless of their ethnicity or nationality. It does carry a measure or pride to know where you're from and to know what your roots are.

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

Most of all, I dislike this idea nowadays that if you're a black person in America, then you must be called African-American. Listen, I've visited Africa, and I've got news for everyone: I'm not an African.

I grew up speaking both languages, and for me that's really important.

I think that people assumed I was white because of my last name. My father is Caucasian, my mother is Hispanic. But English was my second language, believe it or not.

I feel more Jewish than I do Iranian.

When I was growing up, we spoke Egyptian, we ate Egyptian food, we had other Egyptian friends. It was my father's preference.

The English was really my mother, it was never me. Being the daughter of my father, I always felt very French.

A nation without a language is a nation without a heart.

It is asked of me that I give my first speech in this house in a language [English] other than my mother tongue [French.] …. Even if I knew English as intimately as I knew French, I would still give my first speech in the language of my French Canadian compatriots

I am neither a Serb nor a Bulgarian, I am a South Slav.

Language, identity, place, home: these are all of a piece - just different elements of belonging and not-belonging.

I'm always very careful to say I'm Irish-Ethiopian because I feel Ethiopian and I look Ethiopian and I am Ethiopian. But there are 81 languages in Ethiopia, and I don't know any of them.

It would be absurd to say I'm not British - you can hear it when I speak.

I have the Mexican blood. I'm proud to be Mexican.

Lots of people speak Afrikaans. It's not a statement; it's just a language that we use to communicate. It has its own flavour; it's got its own slang. People laugh. People like it. They like us being open.