A collection of best quotes and thoughts about culture from eminent people.

Insightful Quotes About Culture & Tradition

Culture reflects the delightful artworks, religious diversity, behavioural patterns and artistic choices of a particular region or country. In order to make a world a better place to live in it is very important to understand and accept the cultural differences across the globe. We have compiled few iconic, smart arts, inspiring culture quotes and sayings from philosophers, writers, culture adepts, celebrities, eminent leaders, authors and those who have immersed themselves in the arts. Presenting famous quotes and thoughts on culture that will help us understand the importance of culture differences and strengthen the connections.

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.

You don't have to burn books to destroy a culture. Just get people to stop reading them.
Ray Bradbury

Culture is mix. Culture means a mix of things from other sources. And my town, Istanbul, was this kind of mix. Istanbul, in fact, and my work, is a testimony to the fact that East and West combine cultural gracefully, or sometimes in an anarchic way, came together, and that is what we should search for.
Orhan Pamuk

Istanbul is a vast place. There are very conservative neighbourhoods, there are places that are upper class, Westernised, consuming Western culture.

Istanbul is a vast place. There are very conservative neighbourhoods, there are places that are upper class, Westernised, consuming Western culture.
Orhan Pamuk

The whole celebrity culture thing - I'm fascinated by, and repelled by, and yet I end up knowing about it.

The whole celebrity culture thing - I'm fascinated by, and repelled by, and yet I end up knowing about it.
Anderson Cooper

Never tire yourself more than necessary, even if you have to found a culture on the fatigue of your bones.

Never tire yourself more than necessary, even if you have to found a culture on the fatigue of your bones.
Antonin Artaud

So there's no guarantee if you like the music you will empathize with the culture and the people who made it. It doesn't necessarily happen. I think it can, but it doesn't necessarily happen. Which is kind of a shame.

So there's no guarantee if you like the music you will empathize with the culture and the people who made it. It doesn't necessarily happen. I think it can, but it doesn't necessarily happen. Which is kind of a shame.
David Byrne

I've been repeating ad nauseam that we in Burma, we are weak with regard to the culture of negotiated compromises, that we have to develop the ability to achieve such compromises.

I've been repeating ad nauseam that we in Burma, we are weak with regard to the culture of negotiated compromises, that we have to develop the ability to achieve such compromises.
Aung San Suu Kyi

From Borges, those wonderful gaucho stories from which I learned that you can be specific as to a time and place and culture and still have the work resonate with the universal themes of love, honor, duty, betrayal, etc. From Amiri Baraka, I learned that all art is political, although I don't write political plays.
August Wilson

The fictive structure, my work, my imagination, my books are about the details, the huge construction about culture, Islamic culture or modern Turkey. They're all intertwined.

The fictive structure, my work, my imagination, my books are about the details, the huge construction about culture, Islamic culture or modern Turkey. They're all intertwined.
Orhan Pamuk

I encourage people not to be passive consumers of music and of culture in general. And feeling like, yeah, you can enjoy the products of professionals, but that doesn't mean you don't have to completely give up the reins and give up every connection to music or whatever it happens to be.
David Byrne

When I was a child, when I was an adolescent, books saved me from despair: that convinced me that culture was the highest of values[...].

When I was a child, when I was an adolescent, books saved me from despair: that convinced me that culture was the highest of values[...].
Simone de Beauvoir

Seeing is more than a physiological phenomenon... We see not only with our eyes but with all that we are and all that our culture is. The artist is a professional see-er.

Seeing is more than a physiological phenomenon... We see not only with our eyes but with all that we are and all that our culture is. The artist is a professional see-er.
Dorothea Lange

A dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot.

A dying culture invariably exhibits personal rudeness. Bad manners. Lack of consideration for others in minor matters. A loss of politeness, of gentle manners, is more significant than is a riot.
Robert A. Heinlein

People need to understand, we can come together as a nation. We can create a culture of life. More and more young people today are embracing life because we know we are - we're better for it.

People need to understand, we can come together as a nation. We can create a culture of life. More and more young people today are embracing life because we know we are - we're better for it.
Mike Pence

Life is painful. It has thorns, like the stem of a rose. Culture and art are the roses that bloom on the stem. The flower is yourself, your humanity. Art is the liberation of the humanity inside yourself.

Life is painful. It has thorns, like the stem of a rose. Culture and art are the roses that bloom on the stem. The flower is yourself, your humanity. Art is the liberation of the humanity inside yourself.
Daisaku Ikeda

Museums are western inventions where the rich and the powerful or the government and the state tend to exhibit the signs and symbol and images of their culture.

Museums are western inventions where the rich and the powerful or the government and the state tend to exhibit the signs and symbol and images of their culture.
Orhan Pamuk

Whoever controls the media, the
images, controls the culture.

Whoever controls the media, the images, controls the culture.
Allen Ginsberg

On Keith Richards: He's like a monkey with arthritis.

On Keith Richards: He's like a monkey with arthritis.
Elton John

English culture is basically homosexual in the sense that the men only really care about other men.

English culture is basically homosexual in the sense that the men only really care about other men.
Germaine Greer

It's a sad fact about our culture that a poet can earn much more money writing or talking about his art than he can by practicing it.

It's a sad fact about our culture that a poet can earn much more money writing or talking about his art than he can by practicing it.
W. H. Auden

I never had any other desire so strong, and so like covetousness, as that ... I might be master at last of a small house and a large garden, with very moderate conveniences joined to them, and there dedicate the remainder of my life to the culture of them and the study of nature.
Abraham Cowley

When I traveled as secretary of state, I was deluged with thick briefing books full of information about the politics, economy, and culture of each destination, so those took up most of my reading time.

When I traveled as secretary of state, I was deluged with thick briefing books full of information about the politics, economy, and culture of each destination, so those took up most of my reading time.
Hillary Clinton

Children are the same the world over. They may have a different culture, but an ache or a laugh is universal.

Children are the same the world over. They may have a different culture, but an ache or a laugh is universal.
Danny Kaye

Hatred is something peculiar. You will always find it strongest and most violent where there is the lowest degree of culture.

Hatred is something peculiar. You will always find it strongest and most violent where there is the lowest degree of culture.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed, by the masses.

Those who are able to see beyond the shadows and lies of their culture will never be understood, let alone believed, by the masses.
Plato

When I traveled through Greece in the '90s, everything [Albert Hoxie] taught me came flooding back and I was able to appreciate the art and culture much more because of him.

When I traveled through Greece in the '90s, everything [Albert Hoxie] taught me came flooding back and I was able to appreciate the art and culture much more because of him.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

American books reflect our common heritage with many other nations and their influence upon our culture. The influences are endless, linking us with the rest of the world. Thus, they are good ambassadors for us.

American books reflect our common heritage with many other nations and their influence upon our culture. The influences are endless, linking us with the rest of the world. Thus, they are good ambassadors for us.
Robert F. Kennedy

Culture civilizes us, and that's why every single despotic regime has tried to smash [the arts].

Culture civilizes us, and that's why every single despotic regime has tried to smash [the arts].
Cate Blanchett

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.

A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.
Marcus Garvey

New Orleans is one of the most exciting, incredible communities in the world. There's such a rich culture and history, and there are innumerable things to do.

New Orleans is one of the most exciting, incredible communities in the world. There's such a rich culture and history, and there are innumerable things to do.
Ryan Reynolds

Culture and politics were inseparable [in the Sixties], which gave a soundtrack to political awareness and activism.

Culture and politics were inseparable [in the Sixties], which gave a soundtrack to political awareness and activism.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

Every human being must have a point at which he stands against the culture, where he says, this is me and the damned world can go to hell.

Every human being must have a point at which he stands against the culture, where he says, this is me and the damned world can go to hell.
Rollo May

The problem is when that fun stuff becomes the habit. And I think that's what's happened in our culture. Fast food has become the everyday meal.

The problem is when that fun stuff becomes the habit. And I think that's what's happened in our culture. Fast food has become the everyday meal.
Michelle Obama

In the '60s, when I was growing up, one of the great elements of American culture was the protest song. There were songs about the civil rights movement, the women's rights movement, the antiwar movement. It wasn't just Bob Dylan, it was everybody at the time.
George Clooney

Authority allows two roles: the torturer and the tortured. Twists people into joyless mannequins that fear and hate, while culture plunges into the abyss.

Authority allows two roles: the torturer and the tortured. Twists people into joyless mannequins that fear and hate, while culture plunges into the abyss.
Alan Moore

As a teenager, I worked on Indian reservations, and it was such an incredible culture: the elders are so respected.

As a teenager, I worked on Indian reservations, and it was such an incredible culture: the elders are so respected.
Winona Ryder

We live in a culture that has, for centuries now, cultivated the idea that the skeptical person is always smarter than one who believes. You can almost be as stupid as a cabbage as long as you doubt.

We live in a culture that has, for centuries now, cultivated the idea that the skeptical person is always smarter than one who believes. You can almost be as stupid as a cabbage as long as you doubt.
Dallas Willard

Is it advisable to spread out all the conveniences of culture before people to whom a few steps up a stair to a library is a sufficient deterrent from reading?

Is it advisable to spread out all the conveniences of culture before people to whom a few steps up a stair to a library is a sufficient deterrent from reading?
Ayn Rand

You have to put money in its proper perspective. The way it is positioned in the culture is like it is the most important thing. But something is missing.

You have to put money in its proper perspective. The way it is positioned in the culture is like it is the most important thing. But something is missing.
Jim Brown

The Bible should be taught, but emphatically not as reality. It is fiction, myth, poetry, anything but reality. As such it needs to be taught because it underlies so much of our literature and our culture.

The Bible should be taught, but emphatically not as reality. It is fiction, myth, poetry, anything but reality. As such it needs to be taught because it underlies so much of our literature and our culture.
Richard Dawkins

He said that if culture is a house, then language was the key to the front door; to all the rooms inside. Without it, he said, you ended up wayward, without a proper home or a legitimate identity.

He said that if culture is a house, then language was the key to the front door; to all the rooms inside. Without it, he said, you ended up wayward, without a proper home or a legitimate identity.
Khaled Hosseini

I think really, China, Chinese, I think they really have a long history of civilization, rich culture.

I think really, China, Chinese, I think they really have a long history of civilization, rich culture.
Dalai Lama

I'm trying to change the culture in New York City; that's hard enough!

I'm trying to change the culture in New York City; that's hard enough!
Michael Bloomberg

The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognise that we ought to control our thoughts.

The highest possible stage in moral culture is when we recognise that we ought to control our thoughts.
Charles Darwin

Actors, like it or not, their voices carry deeply into the culture: people look towards them for attitudes, for right or wrong, and today, the mainstream media doesn't really balance the unheard.

Actors, like it or not, their voices carry deeply into the culture: people look towards them for attitudes, for right or wrong, and today, the mainstream media doesn't really balance the unheard.
Mark Ruffalo

CEOs can talk and blab each day about culture, but the employees all know who the jerks are. They could name the jerks for you. It's just cultural. People just don't want to do it.

CEOs can talk and blab each day about culture, but the employees all know who the jerks are. They could name the jerks for you. It's just cultural. People just don't want to do it.
Jack Welch

The one album I can't live without is called 'Cumbolo' by a band called Culture. Every song on their album is deep, but there's one in particular called 'This Train.' I have a tattoo of the lyrics on my left arm.

The one album I can't live without is called 'Cumbolo' by a band called Culture. Every song on their album is deep, but there's one in particular called 'This Train.' I have a tattoo of the lyrics on my left arm.
Idris Elba

Public hangings are teaching moments. Every company has to do it. A teaching moment is worth a thousand CEO speeches. CEOs can talk and blab each day about culture, but the employees all know who the jerks are. They could name the jerks for you. It's just cultural. People just don't want to do it.
Jack Welch

If you don't have public hangings for bad culture in a company, if you don't take people out and let them say, they went home to spend more time with the family. It's crazy.

If you don't have public hangings for bad culture in a company, if you don't take people out and let them say, they went home to spend more time with the family. It's crazy.
Jack Welch

The origins of violence against women by men are not biological. If that were the case, it would exist in every culture. And it doesn't exist in every culture.

The origins of violence against women by men are not biological. If that were the case, it would exist in every culture. And it doesn't exist in every culture.
Gloria Steinem

I am very bullish on India because of its people, its culture, and the leadership. I love the culture and warmth of people.

I am very bullish on India because of its people, its culture, and the leadership. I love the culture and warmth of people.
Tim Cook

Culture change means we will do things differently.

Culture change means we will do things differently.
Satya Nadella

The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community, from the mere animal biology to an act of culture.

The shared meal elevates eating from a mechanical process of fueling the body to a ritual of family and community, from the mere animal biology to an act of culture.
Michael Pollan

We see everything. We see what celebrities buy at the supermarket. It's ridiculous. It's that visibility. I'm confused by this whole celebrity-obsessed culture.

We see everything. We see what celebrities buy at the supermarket. It's ridiculous. It's that visibility. I'm confused by this whole celebrity-obsessed culture.
Eva Mendes

I’m not really all that familiar with comic book culture.

I’m not really all that familiar with comic book culture.
Christoph Waltz

I lead no party; I follow no leader. I have given the best part of my life to careful study of Islam, its law and polity, its culture, its history and its literature.

I lead no party; I follow no leader. I have given the best part of my life to careful study of Islam, its law and polity, its culture, its history and its literature.
Muhammad Iqbal

With modelling, you go somewhere for 24 hours and you don't even see the city, you don't talk to people or see the culture.

With modelling, you go somewhere for 24 hours and you don't even see the city, you don't talk to people or see the culture.
Olga Kurylenko

Vision without power does bring moral elevation but cannot give a lasting culture.

Vision without power does bring moral elevation but cannot give a lasting culture.
Muhammad Iqbal

I've always been fascinated by Asian culture, and I love that women can play the lead in a horror film.

I've always been fascinated by Asian culture, and I love that women can play the lead in a horror film.
Sarah Michelle Gellar

The writer crafts their ideal world. In my world, everyone has really long conversations or just picks apart pop culture to death and everyone talks in monologue.

The writer crafts their ideal world. In my world, everyone has really long conversations or just picks apart pop culture to death and everyone talks in monologue.
Kevin Smith

People are used to music that justifies street culture but something that's not touched on is why these kids act the way they act, live the way they live.

People are used to music that justifies street culture but something that's not touched on is why these kids act the way they act, live the way they live.
Kendrick Lamar

Foreigners have no idea of the diversity of India and its culture. We hope to be able to give them a glimpse of that diversity.

Foreigners have no idea of the diversity of India and its culture. We hope to be able to give them a glimpse of that diversity.
Amitabh Bachchan

The imagination is the goal of history. I see culture as an effort to literally realize our collective dreams.

The imagination is the goal of history. I see culture as an effort to literally realize our collective dreams.
Terence McKenna

Some Russian ballet master woman said there's no culture in America, but if you look you can find interesting stuff in this country, don't you think?

Some Russian ballet master woman said there's no culture in America, but if you look you can find interesting stuff in this country, don't you think?
Robert Duvall

My job is to inspire the people, to be on top of my game and push my culture forward.

My job is to inspire the people, to be on top of my game and push my culture forward.
Wale

Together with a culture of work, there must be a culture of leisure as gratification. To put it another way: people who work must take the time to relax, to be with their families, to enjoy themselves, read, listen to music, play a sport.
Pope Francis

To the European, it is a characteristic of the American culture that, again and again, one is commanded and ordered to 'be happy.' But happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason to 'be happy.'

To the European, it is a characteristic of the American culture that, again and again, one is commanded and ordered to 'be happy.' But happiness cannot be pursued; it must ensue. One must have a reason to 'be happy.'
Viktor Frankl

The bastard form of mass culture is humiliated repetition... always new books, new programs, new films, news items, but always the same meaning.

The bastard form of mass culture is humiliated repetition... always new books, new programs, new films, news items, but always the same meaning.
Roland Barthes

I sang the 'Sunday Night Football' theme song two years in a row - my first part in American culture, although I still don't know anything about American football.

I sang the 'Sunday Night Football' theme song two years in a row - my first part in American culture, although I still don't know anything about American football.
Priyanka Chopra

In England you're skewered on the altar of pop culture if you become pretentious.

In England you're skewered on the altar of pop culture if you become pretentious.
Mick Jagger

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

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

I have a fond appreciation for the Canadian culture and the Canadian food scene in general.

I have a fond appreciation for the Canadian culture and the Canadian food scene in general.
Guy Fieri

Apple has a culture of excellence that is, I think, so unique and so special. I'm not going to witness or permit the change of it.

Apple has a culture of excellence that is, I think, so unique and so special. I'm not going to witness or permit the change of it.
Tim Cook

Culture is perishing in overproduction, in an avalanche of words, in the madness of quantity.

Culture is perishing in overproduction, in an avalanche of words, in the madness of quantity.
Milan Kundera

I'm fairly out of the loop when it comes to pop culture.

I'm fairly out of the loop when it comes to pop culture.
Cynthia Nixon

The world is getting so small. Young people are mobile; they want to travel around the world. When you travel around the world, you exchange culture, you want to make friends, you want to exchange things.

The world is getting so small. Young people are mobile; they want to travel around the world. When you travel around the world, you exchange culture, you want to make friends, you want to exchange things.
Jack Ma

The most essential and fundamental aspect of culture is the study of literature, since this is an education in how to picture and understand human situations.

The most essential and fundamental aspect of culture is the study of literature, since this is an education in how to picture and understand human situations.
Iris Murdoch

We spend so much time condemning, critiquing, and copying culture we miss on actually changing it. Be a creator not a hater.

We spend so much time condemning, critiquing, and copying culture we miss on actually changing it. Be a creator not a hater.
Lecrae Moore

Glam culture is ultimately rooted in obsession, and those of us who are truly devoted and loyal to the lifestyle of glamour are masters of its history. Or, to put it more elegantly, we are librarians.

Glam culture is ultimately rooted in obsession, and those of us who are truly devoted and loyal to the lifestyle of glamour are masters of its history. Or, to put it more elegantly, we are librarians.
Lady Gaga

The man or nation of high culture may acknowledge to great lengths the restraints imposed by conventions and honour, but beyond a certain point, primitive will or desire cannot be curbed.

The man or nation of high culture may acknowledge to great lengths the restraints imposed by conventions and honour, but beyond a certain point, primitive will or desire cannot be curbed.
H. P. Lovecraft

I loved 'Saturday Night Fever' when I was a kid. I couldn't believe people talked that way. It was just a whole new culture I didn't understand. I snuck into it. It was an R-rated film. So it holds a special place.

I loved 'Saturday Night Fever' when I was a kid. I couldn't believe people talked that way. It was just a whole new culture I didn't understand. I snuck into it. It was an R-rated film. So it holds a special place.
Brad Pitt

Explain to me what Italian-American culture is. We've been here 100 years. Isn't Italian-American culture American culture? That's because we're so diverse, in terms of intermarriage.

Explain to me what Italian-American culture is. We've been here 100 years. Isn't Italian-American culture American culture? That's because we're so diverse, in terms of intermarriage.
Al Pacino

We live in this culture of endless extraction and disposal: extraction from the earth, extraction from people's bodies, from communities, as if there's no limit, as if there's no consequence to how we're taking and disposing, and as if it can go on endlessly. We are reaching the breaking point on multiple levels. Communities are breaking, the planet is breaking, people's bodies are breaking. We are taking too much.
Naomi Klein

God exists, if only in the form of a meme with high survival value, or infective power, in the environment provided by human culture.

God exists, if only in the form of a meme with high survival value, or infective power, in the environment provided by human culture.
Richard Dawkins

Education, family, character, intelligence, humility, okay? These are the things that make a culture live.

Education, family, character, intelligence, humility, okay? These are the things that make a culture live.
Jim Brown

Within this culture wealth is measured by one's ability to consume and destroy.

Within this culture wealth is measured by one's ability to consume and destroy.
Derrick Jensen

I think the advent of the Internet gave us all a big boost, because by the time the Internet became mainstream and you could get it in your home, a lot of us were used to dealing in fan culture, writing to magazines or anything at the back of comic books.
Kevin Smith

The task is clear: to create a culture of caretaking in which no one and nowhere is thrown away, in which the inherent value of people and all life is foundational.

The task is clear: to create a culture of caretaking in which no one and nowhere is thrown away, in which the inherent value of people and all life is foundational.
Naomi Klein

America is the first culture in jeopardy of amusing itself to death.

America is the first culture in jeopardy of amusing itself to death.
John Piper

The Law of Raspberry Jam: the wider any culture is spread, the thinner it gets.

The Law of Raspberry Jam: the wider any culture is spread, the thinner it gets.
Alvin Toffler

In the black culture, certain kids are given nicknames that they roll with forever; the nicknames outweigh their real names. I'm one of those scenarios.

In the black culture, certain kids are given nicknames that they roll with forever; the nicknames outweigh their real names. I'm one of those scenarios.
Snoop Dogg

Hong Kong film audiences are very quiet. It's their culture.

Hong Kong film audiences are very quiet. It's their culture.
Jet Li

I take a cooking class everywhere I travel. I find it's the best way to get to know a culture.

I take a cooking class everywhere I travel. I find it's the best way to get to know a culture.
Blake Lively

I've always been fascinated by Japanese culture.

I've always been fascinated by Japanese culture.
Sarah Michelle Gellar

If you get down about the state of American culture, just remember there are still more public libraries in this country than there are McDonalds.

If you get down about the state of American culture, just remember there are still more public libraries in this country than there are McDonalds.
David McCullough

I've been to Africa three times. All right? You can't bring Western reasoning into the culture. The same way you can't bring it into fundamental Islam.

I've been to Africa three times. All right? You can't bring Western reasoning into the culture. The same way you can't bring it into fundamental Islam.
Bill O'Reilly

I have never denied my background or my culture. I have taught my child to embrace her Mexican heritage, to love my first language, Spanish, to learn about Mexican history, music, folk art, food, and even the Mexican candy I grew up with.
Salma Hayek

The best stories in our culture have some sort of subversiveness - Mark Twain, 'Catcher in the Rye.' You provide kids with great stories and teach them how to use the tools to make their own.

The best stories in our culture have some sort of subversiveness - Mark Twain, 'Catcher in the Rye.' You provide kids with great stories and teach them how to use the tools to make their own.
Matt Groening

For me, what makes life enjoyable is having a shared culture and shared references.

For me, what makes life enjoyable is having a shared culture and shared references.
Michael Sheen

That's exactly why I came into music in the first place: to be inspired by what I hear to make it something else, to make it my own. That's how culture, creativity, moves, isn't it?

That's exactly why I came into music in the first place: to be inspired by what I hear to make it something else, to make it my own. That's how culture, creativity, moves, isn't it?
Jimmy Page

If there is something I am arguing, it is a critique of science. Science has consistently denied the existence of consciousness other than human. Only in the last 20 years do we have acknowledgement of animal feeling or culture or experience.
Barbara Ehrenreich

This is the culture your raising your kids in, don't be suprised when it blows up in your face.

This is the culture your raising your kids in, don't be suprised when it blows up in your face.
Marilyn Manson

Insightful Quotes About Culture & Tradition

Death

Dreams

Ego

Experience

Family

Farewell