Irvine Welsh Quotes

There's a difference between being culturally insensitive - being insensitive towards a culture - and being insensitive.

I don't feel like I have to be nationalistic French because I'm afraid of losing whatever. No, no, no, no. And also I don't think we are the best.

This sort of thing may be tolerated by the French, but we are British, thank God.

… cultural pride can turn, too often, into an endeavor to normalize one's culture. The quest for identity can then become an exclusionary process - so that we define ourselves less by what we are FOR and more by whom we are AGAINST. When this happens, diversity turns quickly from a source of beauty to a cause of discord.

… people should not be hindered from attaining development in accordance with their own culture.

Multiculturalism isn't just a buzzword; it's not just something to debate - I am multiculturalism.

Immigrants have to adopt our values, not the other way around.

Saying... 'Come as you are, keep living like you do, keep your culture, and we will add all that together,' doesn't work.

We should wake up and tell ourselves: You're not a xenophobe, you're not a racist, you're not a crazy guy if you say, 'My culture is better than yours.'

Colombian culture has had a huge influence on me and taught me a different way of looking at things - I was always different from the people I went to school with, and I learned to embrace that.

I've always said that the more ethnic you become, the more international your film becomes.

I think we should appreciate ethnicity and diversity, and appreciate the uniqueness of all people, but I don't think we should be ethnocentric. These things are not ultimate.

But what I'm very interested in, whether it's writing, whether it's hosting a show, whether it's cooking food, I'm just into the discussions of identity, culture and the politics of culture.

The lax multiculturalism that urges Americans to accept the unacceptable from their fellow citizens is one of this nation's greatest vulnerabilities in the war on terror.

I have a multicultural background, so I tend to have an open mind about things, and I find other cultures interesting.

As an Italian-American, I have a special responsibility to be sensitive to ethnic stereotypes.

The role of the federal government should be neutral toward culture just as it is toward religion.

Preservation of one's own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.

There are Latino people in our world who believe strongly that if you are Latino you should speak the language, you should eat the food, you should listen to the music, you should be proud. And when you don't do those things, some people will look at it as if you're neglecting who you are.

The beginning of Canadian cultural nationalism was not 'Am I really that oppressed?' but 'Am I really that boring?'

Culture is the widening of the mind and of the spirit.

When I was in Holland, the idea was, all cultures are equal and all are to be preserved. My idea was, no, all humans are equal, but not all cultures are equal.

I think it's important that the rest of the world know that we're not all the same and that we don't all have the sort of arrogance it feels like they're perceiving from our leaders.

I don't have to participate in another culture's ceremonies in order to respect that culture.

We should never denigrate any other culture but rather help people to understand the relationship between their own culture and the dominant culture. When you understand another culture or language, it does not mean that you have to lose your own culture.