200 Best Cross-Cultural Communication Quotes (2023)

1. Male-female conversation is cross-cultural communication - Author: Deborah Tannen

2. The essence of cross-cultural communication has more to do with releasing responses than with sending messages. It is more important to release the right response than to send the right message. - Author: Edward T. Hall

3. “Where cross-cultural engagement is concerned, token adjustments are no longer an option. To advance a credible message of God’s love for all people in an increasingly diverse society, we must move ourselves entirely as well as the churches we lead. We must adjust to a new reality.”

4. All communication is more or less cross-cultural. We learn to use language as we grow up, and growing up in different parts of the country, having different ethnic, religious, or class backgrounds, even just being male or female - all result in different ways of talking ... - Author: Deborah Tannen

5. “Determine what behaviors and beliefs you value as a company, and have everyone live true to them. These behaviors and beliefs should be so essential to your core, that you don’t even think of it as culture.”

6. “Diversity…is not casual liberal tolerance of anything not yourself. It is not polite accommodation. Instead, diversity is, in action, the sometimes painful awareness that other people, other races, other voices, other habits of mind have as much integrity of being, as much claim on the world as you do… And I urge you, amid all the differences present to the eye and mind, to reach out to create the bond that…will protect us all. We are all meant to be here together.”

7. “Culture is a way of coping with the world by defining it in detail.” by Malcolm Bradbury.

8. “If you want something you have never had, you must be willing to do something you have never done.”

9. “A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people” by Mahatma Gandhi.

10. “There are only two days in the year that nothing can be done. One is called Yesterday and the other is called Tomorrow. Today is the right day to Love, Believe, Do and mostly Live.”

11. “I speak to everyone in the same way, whether he is the garbage man or the president of the university” — Albert Einstein

12. “Two monologues do not make a dialogue” — Jeff Daly

13. “The way I think about culture is that modern humans have radically changed the way that they work and the way that they live. Companies need to change the way they manage and lead to match the way that modern humans actually work and live.”

14. “Diversity: the art of thinking independently together” — Malcom Forbes

15. “A year from now you may wish you had started today.”

16. “Over the years we learned that if we asked people to rely on logic and common sense instead of on formal policies, most of the time we would get better results, and at lower cost.”

17. “If you are depressed you are living in the past. If you are anxious you are living in the future. If you are at peace you are living in the present.”

18. “Strength lies in differences, not in similarities” by Stephen R. Covey.

19. “When 99% of people doubt your idea, you’re either gravely wrong or about to make history.”

20. “Keep your language. Love its sounds, its modulation, its rhythm.

21. “Understand the differences; act on the commonalities.”

22. “Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings and emotions.”

23. “The beauty of the world lies in the diversity of its people.”

24. “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.”

25. “Transparency starts as a mindset change.”

26. “Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway.”

27. “If you want to live a happy life, tie it to a goal, not to people or things.”

28. “Differences simply act as a yarn of curiosity unraveling until we get to the other side” — Ciore Taylor

29. “I used to believe that culture was ‘soft,’ and had little bearing on our bottom line. What I believe today is that our culture has everything to do with our bottom line, now and into the future.”

30. “It was an effort formulating this summary, explaining myself. I preferred the distant past, centuries that were over and done with, ghosts that posed no direct threat. History could be milked for this cause or that. We observed it always with hindsight, projecting onto it our modern convictions and anxieties.”

31. “Every man’s ability may be strengthened or increased by culture” by John Abbot.

32. “We try to have the kind of a culture that doesn’t value excuses in the sense that when you’re supposed to accomplish something, and you’re at a high level, then your job is to accomplish it, in spite of difficulty. And you’re rewarded for dealing with that.”

33. “The middle-class standard of the independent self has increasingly become the default American standard for how to think, feel and act in the world…this middle class self is not just a matter of individual attitudes or beliefs; it is an understanding of what it means to be a person that is built into and promoted by the social machinery – law, politics, education, employment, media, and health care of mainstream American society. Although the independent self is widely accepted as the cultural standard, it is not the natural, normal, neutral or even the most effective way of being a person. Instead, it is a privileged and culture-specific understanding of what it means to be a person that flows seamlessly from the resources, opportunities, and experiences linked with middle-class American standing in society.”

34. “One of our values is that you should be looking out for each other. Everyone should try to make the lives of everyone else who works here a little bit simpler.”

35. “It’s important for us to create a culture of innovation—one that both values and rewards risk.”

36. “Traditions are the guideposts driven deep in our subconscious minds.

37. “The closer they come to transcending technique and the memorization of lines--the closer to really beginning to act, in short--the more Chinese they begin to seem. Happy now approaches Miss Forsythe to pick her up in the restaurant with a wonderful formality, his back straight, head high, his hand-gestures even more precise and formal, but with a comic undertone that ironically comes closer to conveying the original American idea of the scene than when he was trying to be physically sloppy and "relaxed"--that is, imitating an American. I think that by some unplanned magic we may end up creating something not quite American or Chinese but a pure style springing from the heart of the play itself--the play as a nonnational event, that is, a human circumstance.”

38. “Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.”

39. “Culture is to recruiting as product is to marketing.”

40. “Just stick with it. What seems so hard now will one day be your warm up.”

41. “Never confuse a single defeat with a final defeat.”

42. “Today i will do what others won't so tomorrow i can do what others can’t.”

43. Everybody believes that their reality is the real real reality” — Paul Watzlawick

44. “Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the little voice at the end of the day that says I’ll try again tomorrow.”

45. “He glanced helplessly at Ruby, hoping for some help. She was a scribe and had more experience with dwarves than the six hours that Durham had acquired. He's assumed that, as a fellow human, she would make an effort to be some sort of cultural ambassador to help him survive past lunch. Ruby's current interpretation of being helpful seemed to be a silent smirk.”

46. “A Senegalese poet said ‘In the end we will conserve only what we love. We love only what we understand, and we will understand only what we are taught.’ We must learn about other cultures in order to understand, in order to love, and in order to preserve our common world heritage.”

47. “No culture has ever developed all human potentialities; it has always selected certain capacities, mental and emotional and moral, and shifted others. Each culture is a system of values which may well complement the values in another” — Ruth Benedict

48. “I hated every minute of training, but I said, “Don’t quit. Suffer now and live the rest of your life as a champion.””

49. “Assume the best but hire paranoid people.”

50. “It was during those long and lonely years that my hunger for the freedom of our own people became a hunger for the freedom of all people, white and black. I knew as well as I knew anything that the oppressor must be liberated just as surely as the oppressed. A man who takes away another man’s freedom is a prisoner of hatred, he is locked behind bars of prejudice and narrow-mindedness. I am not truly free if I am taking away someone else’s freedom, just as surely as I am not free when my freedom is taken from me. The oppressed and the oppressor alike are robbed of their humanity.”

51. “You have to maintain a culture of transformation and stay true to your values” — Jeff Weiner

52. “There’s no magic formula for great company culture. The key is just to treat your staff how you would like to be treated.”

53. “True leadership stems from individuality that is honestly and sometimes imperfectly expressed… Leaders should strive for authenticity over perfection.”

54. “I already know what giving up feels like. I want to see what happens if I don’t.”

55. “If we are going to live with our deepest differences then we must learn about one another.”

56. He who has not an adventure has not horse or mule, so says Solomon.

57. “Two things define you: Your patience when you have nothing and your attitude when you have everything.”

58. “Work hard in silence, let your success be your noise.”

59. “I look for two things when I hire a new employee: ambition and humility. Without a proven track record of initiative and ambition, it’s likely the person becomes a drain rather than a contributor to the company – even the really smart, talented ones.”

60. “You don’t have to burn books to destroy a culture.

61. “Culture is simply a shared way of doing something with a passion.”

62. “I am amazed all over again by how magnified this project's importance has become, far beyond its being a play or an artwork. It is now a test of some kind; but of what, precisely? The incommunicability of the Chinese? If I can't claim to know my actors, I know them as well or as little as I would an American cast. I can no longer call up the notion of Chinese mysteriousness.”

63. “If we really want to be effective with communication, we have to humanize our brands.”

64. Elizabeth, this one last task you will enter in a moment, will determine your fate and who you are. You are eighteen now and with the blood of past generations running through your veins, this will destine who you really are and where you belong. - Author: Elena Carpenter

65. The past is always knocking at the door, trying to break through into today. - Author: Neil Gaiman

66. Tell me what the world is saying today, and I'll tell you what the church will be saying in seven years. - Author: Francis Schaeffer

67. “First they ignore you, then they ridicule you, then they fight you, and then you win.”

68. “I do not wish my house to be walled on all sides and my windows stuffed. I want the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible.”

69. Eddie I'm not going to claim to be any expert in romance, but even I can tell that you're crazy about Jill."

70. The stranger sees only what he knows — African proverb

71. “The international manager reconciles cultural dilemmas” — Fons Trompenaars

72. “I used to think that anyone doing something weird was weird. Now I know that it is the people who call others weird who are weird.”

73. “A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving.”

74. “We believe that it’s really important to come up with core values that you can commit to. And by commit, we mean that you’re willing to hire and fire based on them. If you’re willing to do that, then you’re well on your way to building a company culture that is in line with the brand you want to build.”

75. “If you want employees to feel appreciated, you need to celebrate their achievements regularly and publicly.”

76. “I am amazed all over again by how magnified this project's importance has become, far beyond its being a play or an artwork. It is now a test of some kind; but of what, precisely? The incommunicability of the Chinese? If I can't claim to know my actors, I know them as well or as little as I would an American cast. I can no longer call up the notion of Chinese mysteriousness.”

77. “When you want to succeed as bad as you want to breathe, then you’ll be successful.”

78. “Knowing yourself is not so much about introspection and interaction. To know yourself is to realize that you are more than the little self that has been given to you by your history — the pattern that others made — that your true self is, in truth, much larger and includes other people, other cultures, other species even. That life is less about being and more about interbeing. We come to know ourselves, then, through coming to know each other. And the deeper that knowledge, the richer and more creative the world we build together ”

79. “We believe in relentlessly refining our skills and knowledge, as a team and as individuals.”

80. “Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard.”

81. I'm not going to deny it. I'm a neat person, there's no question. But I don't become obsessed with it. - Author: Courteney Cox

82. “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.”

83. My queen, his thoughts said reverently.

84. “One of the most significant facts about humanity may finally be that we all begin with the natural equipment to live a thousand kinds of life but end in the end having lived only one” — Clifford Geertz

85. “Every view of the world that becomes extinct, every culture that disappears, diminishes a possibility of life.”

86. “Choose your self-presentations carefully, for what starts out as a mask may become your face” — Erving Goffman

87. “You want to set goals that you can hit, so when you start hitting them, you can celebrate those wins. People start trusting in your way of projecting the business.”

88. “Hire great people and give them freedom to be awesome.”

89. “Even when we interact daily with people of other ethnic groups, we rarely talk about racial issues. It seems too scary to people. But we must start doing it! We have to break down the barriers between us and talk openly, honestly, and with respect. The rewards far outweigh any concerns we may have.”

90. “I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become.”

91. “There is very little ‘of course’ when it comes to customs” — Janet Kagan

92. “Being a great place to work is the difference between being a good company and a great company.”

93. “I think as a company, if you can get those two things right — having a clear direction on what you are trying to do and bringing in great people who can execute on the stuff — then you can do pretty well.”

94. “If you don’t build your dream someone will hire you to help build theirs.”

95. “Every human is like all other humans, some other humans, and no other human” — Clyde Kluckhon

96. “I think a large part of that is the fact that I’m a large believer in hiring the right people and giving them unbelievable amounts of power and autonomy.”

97. “If we wanted home truths, we should have stayed home” — Clifford Geertz

98. “If you don’t make the time to work on creating the life you want, you’re eventually going to be forced to spend a lot of time dealing with a life you don’t want.”

99. “An entire sea of water can’t sink a ship unless it gets inside the ship. Similarly, the negativity of the world can’t put you down unless you allow it to get inside you.”

100. “Society in its full sense… is never an entity separable from the individuals who compose it. No individual can arrive even at the threshold of his potentialities without a culture in which he participates”

101. “With all the diversity in the world, people of different religious groups, color, race, education, development, and maturity, there is one thing in common among all of us. One thing that ties each one of us to every other one, we are all moving into the future, at the same speed, simultaneously on this journey.”

102. If you don’t give people information, they make up something to fill the void” — Carla O’Dell

103. “If you think you are too small to make a difference, try sleeping with a mosquito.”

104. “If we are going to live with our deepest differences then we must learn about one another.”

105. “It was an effort formulating this summary, explaining myself. I preferred the distant past, centuries that were over and done with, ghosts that posed no direct threat. History could be milked for this cause or that. We observed it always with hindsight, projecting onto it our modern convictions and anxieties.”

106. “Our secret weapon for building the best culture is open and honest feedback.”

107. “Everyone on the team plays an equal role. My role is to create the wave and everyone on our team keeps the wave going.”

108. “Throw me to the wolves and I will return leading the pack.”

109. “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.”

110. “A river cuts through rock, not because of its power, but because of its persistence.”

111. Cultural analysis is intrinsically incomplete. And, worse than that, the more deeply it gets, the less complete it is” — Clifford Geertz

112. “We seldom realize, for example that our most private thoughts and emotions are not actually our own.

113. “If it is important to you, you will find a way. If not, you’ll find an excuse.”

114. ” We have become not a melting pot but a beautiful mosaic. Different people, different beliefs, different yearnings, different hopes, different dreams.”

115. “The closer they come to transcending technique and the memorization of lines--the closer to really beginning to act, in short--the more Chinese they begin to seem. Happy now approaches Miss Forsythe to pick her up in the restaurant with a wonderful formality, his back straight, head high, his hand-gestures even more precise and formal, but with a comic undertone that ironically comes closer to conveying the original American idea of the scene than when he was trying to be physically sloppy and "relaxed"--that is, imitating an American. I think that by some unplanned magic we may end up creating something not quite American or Chinese but a pure style springing from the heart of the play itself--the play as a nonnational event, that is, a human circumstance.”

116. “Cheese, where you takes liquid from a cow lady's business parts, mix it with a bit o' juices from a baby cow's fourth stomach and then let it grow all fuzzy-moldy for a few years, eh?”

117. “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

118. “Performance more often comes down to a cultural challenge, rather than simply a technical one.”

119. “Corporate culture is the only sustainable competitive advantage that is completely within the control of the entrepreneur.”

120. Deep listening is miraculous for both the listener and speaker. When someone receives us with open-hearted, non-judgmental, intensely interested listening, our spirits expand” — Sue Patton Soele

121. “It is not easy to be stranded between two worlds, the sad truth is that we can never be completely comfortable in either world” — Sharon Kay Penman

122. The politicians pose some danger because they are interesting and employ popular vanity and the illusion of ideals to make small changes in society. Small does not necessarily mean insignificant, and for this reason the politicians must be watched. - Author: L.E. Modesitt Jr.

123. “Knowing is not enough, we must apply. Willing is not enough, we must do.”

124. We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are” — Anonymous

125. “Cheese, where you takes liquid from a cow lady's business parts, mix it with a bit o' juices from a baby cow's fourth stomach and then let it grow all fuzzy-moldy for a few years, eh?”

126. “If people are not laughing at your goals, your goals are too small.”

127. “You don’t have to be great to start, but you have to start to be great.”

128. “Cultural differences should not separate us from each other,

129. “Shaping your culture is more than half done when you hire your team.”

130. “Try seeing, feeling, and tasting the water you swim in the way a land animal might perceive it. You may find the experience fascinating -- and mind-expanding.”

131. “We live in different realities but when you deny what this person is going through, you are denying their reality. We are as different as we are on the inside as on the outside, and we have the right to be so.

132. “Strangers in a new culture see only what they know.”

133. “Without mutual knowledge there can be no mutual understanding; without understanding, there can be no trust and respect; without trust, there can be no peace, only the danger of conflict. This means we have to be willing and able to familiarize ourselves with the way people of other cultures think and perceive the world around them, but without losing our own standpoint in the process.”

134. “To effectively communicate, we must realize that we are all different in the way that we perceive the world and use this understanding as a guide to our communication with others” — Anthony Robbins

135. “Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you.”

136. “Most of my important lessons about life have come from recognizing how others from a different culture view things” — Edgar H. Schein

137. “Ultimately, it’s on the company leaders to set the tone,” Cook told Fast Company. “Not only the CEO, but the leaders across the company. If you select them so carefully that they then hire the right people, it’s a nice self-fulfilling prophecy.”

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

139. “What would you do if you weren’t afraid?”

140. Any time. Tattoos and hugs. I'm great at them both. - Author: Scarlett Cole

141. In terms of the films I make, I'm just more excited about it if I've written it. It's like living in a house that you've built rather than a rental. - Author: Frank Whaley

142. “One of the greatest regrets in life is being what others would want you to be,

143. “In this ever-changing society, the most powerful and enduring brands are built from the heart. They are real and sustainable. Their foundations are stronger because they are built with the strength of the human spirit, not an ad campaign. The companies that are lasting are those that are authentic.”

144. “Worry a little bit every day and in a lifetime you will lose a couple of years. If something is wrong, fix it if you can. But train yourself not to worry: Worry never fixes anything. ”

145. “You’ll surprise you more than they will” — Janet Kagan

146. “Life begins at the end of your comfort zone.”

147. “Culture is the name for what people are interested in, their thoughts, their models,

148. “One of the most effective ways to learn about yourself is by taking seriously the cultures of others. It forces you to pay attention to those details of life which differentiate them from you” — Edward T. Hall

149. “The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried.”

150. “Company Culture is the product of a company’s values, expectations and environment.”

151. “Embracing diversity is one adventure after another, opening new paths of discovery that connect an understanding to caring, listening, and sharing with others who are different than ourselves.”

152. “It’s about getting the best people, retaining them, nurturing a creative environment & helping to find a way to innovate.”

153. “It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.”

154. “Peace is not in unity in similarity but unity in diversity, in the comparison and conciliation of differences” — Mikhail Gorbachev

155. “Tabini was at least canny enough in the differences between atevi and human to know that, gut level, he might think he understood - but chances were very good that he wouldn't, couldn't, and never would, unaided by the paidhi, come up with the right forecast of human behavior because he didn't come with the right hardwiring. Average people didn't analyze what they thought: they thought they thought, and half of it was gut reaction.”

156. “The greatest pleasure in life is doing what people say you cannot do.”

157. “It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.”

158. “The middle-class standard of the independent self has increasingly become the default American standard for how to think, feel and act in the world…this middle class self is not just a matter of individual attitudes or beliefs; it is an understanding of what it means to be a person that is built into and promoted by the social machinery – law, politics, education, employment, media, and health care of mainstream American society. Although the independent self is widely accepted as the cultural standard, it is not the natural, normal, neutral or even the most effective way of being a person. Instead, it is a privileged and culture-specific understanding of what it means to be a person that flows seamlessly from the resources, opportunities, and experiences linked with middle-class American standing in society.”

159. “Difference is of the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore

160. “Tabini was at least canny enough in the differences between atevi and human to know that, gut level, he might think he understood - but chances were very good that he wouldn't, couldn't, and never would, unaided by the paidhi, come up with the right forecast of human behavior because he didn't come with the right hardwiring. Average people didn't analyze what they thought: they thought they thought, and half of it was gut reaction.”

161. “We may have different religions, different languages, different colored skin,

162. “Men hate each other because they fear each other, and they fear each other because they don’t know each other, and they don’t know each other because they are often separated from each other.”

163. “The first step to getting anywhere is deciding you’re no longer willing to stay where you are.”

164. “If we are to preserve culture we must continue to create it” by Johan Huizinga.

165. that weird sour body odor only monsters have, like a skunk that's been living off Mexican food. Grover - Author: Rick Riordan

166. “The world is changed by your example, not by your opinion.”

167. “The habits that took years to build, do not take a day to change.”

168. “Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle.

169. “We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors. But, they all fit nicely into the same box.”

170. “He glanced helplessly at Ruby, hoping for some help. She was a scribe and had more experience with dwarves than the six hours that Durham had acquired. He's assumed that, as a fellow human, she would make an effort to be some sort of cultural ambassador to help him survive past lunch. Ruby's current interpretation of being helpful seemed to be a silent smirk.”

171. “Try seeing, feeling, and tasting the water you swim in the way a land animal might perceive it. You may find the experience fascinating -- and mind-expanding.”

172. “Culture is the arts elevated to a set of beliefs” by Thomas Wolfe.

173. When I'm feeling sad, or lonely, and I don't know what I'm doing and I don't know where I'm going, I imagine the Cool Awesome Future Version of Myself just telling my present self, "It's okay. You just gotta grab that giraffe by the ears and ride it on out." - Author: Jenna Marbles

174. “When someone tells me “no,” it doesn’t mean I can’t do it, it simply means I can’t do it with them.”

175. We want to take action out of the desire to contribute to life rather than out of fear, guilt, shame, or obligation. - Author: Marshall B. Rosenberg

176. “Never judge someone by the way he looks or a book by the way it’s covered;

177. I like the immediacy of blogs and the democratizing effects of letting millions of voices bloom on the Web. - Author: Jill Abramson

178. “Our culture is friendly and intense, but if push comes to shove we’ll settle for intense.”

179. “People of different religions and cultures live side-by-side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us in very different groups.

180. “The activity you’re most avoiding contains your biggest opportunity.”

181. “Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it solely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.”

182. “Make sure everybody in the company has great opportunities, has a meaningful impact and is contributing to the good of society.”

183. “I don’t count my sit-ups. I only start counting when it starts hurting. When I feel pain, that’s when I start counting, because that’s when it really counts.”

184. “Great minds discuss ideas. Average minds discuss events. Small minds discuss people.”

185. “We have a culture where we are incredibly self critical, we don’t get comfortable with our success.”

186. “I’m too busy working on my own grass to notice if yours is greener.”

187. “Sentiment without action is the ruin of the soul.”

188. “Satisfied employees mean satisfied customers, which leads to profitability.”

189. “The crucial differences which distinguish human societies and human beings

190. Elizabeth, this one last task you will enter in a moment, will determine your fate and who you are. You are eighteen now and with the blood of past generations running through your veins, this will destine who you really are and where you belong. - Author: Elena Carpenter

191. “Difference is of the essence of humanity. Difference is an accident of birth and it should therefore

192. “When 99% of people doubt your idea, you’re either gravely wrong or about to make history.”

193. “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.”

194. Eddie I'm not going to claim to be any expert in romance, but even I can tell that you're crazy about Jill."

195. “Today i will do what others won't so tomorrow i can do what others can’t.”

196. Any time. Tattoos and hugs. I'm great at them both. - Author: Scarlett Cole

197. “One of the most effective ways to learn about yourself is by taking seriously the cultures of others. It forces you to pay attention to those details of life which differentiate them from you” — Edward T. Hall

198. “We live in different realities but when you deny what this person is going through, you are denying their reality. We are as different as we are on the inside as on the outside, and we have the right to be so.

199. “The crucial differences which distinguish human societies and human beings

200. “Stop letting people who do so little for you control so much of your mind, feelings and emotions.”