Quotes, quotations, and passages on diversity from living life fully

Differences challenge assumptions.

Anne Wilson Schaef

People may be said to resemble not the bricks of which a house is built, but the pieces of a picture puzzle, each differing in shape, but matching the rest, and thus bringing out the picture. Felix Adler

I do not want my house to be walled in on all sides and my windows to be stifled. I want all the cultures of all lands to be blown about my house as freely as possible. But I refuse to be blown off my feet by any. Mohandas K. Gandhi

The diversity of the family should be a cause of love and harmony, as it is in music where many different notes blend together in the making of a perfect chord. from the Baha'i Scriptures

As long as the differences and diversities of humankind exist, democracy must allow for compromise, for accommodation, and for the recognition of differences. Eugene McCarthy Diversity is not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another's uniqueness. Ola Joseph

Peace is not unity in similarity but unity in diversity,
in the comparison and conciliation of differences.

Mikhail Gorbachev

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If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values,
we must recognize the whole gamut of human potentialities,
and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric, one in which each
diverse human gift will find a fitting place.

Margaret Mead

Why not let people differ about their answers to the great mysteries
of the Universe? Let each seek one's own way to the highest, to one's
own sense of supreme loyalty in life, one's ideal of life. Let each
philosophy, each world-view bring forth its truth and beauty to a larger
perspective, that people may grow in vision, stature and dedication.

Algernon Black

We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry,
and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry
are equal in value no matter what their color.

Maya Angelou

I feel my heart break to see a nation ripped apart by its own greatest strength--its diversity.

Melissa Etheridge

There never were in the world two opinions alike, no more than two hairs or two grains; the most universal quality is diversity.

Michel de Montaigne

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

Jimmy Carter

Cultural differences should not separate us from each other, but rather
cultural diversity brings a collective strength that can benefit all of humanity.

Robert Alan

The splendor of the rose and the whiteness of the lily do not rob
the little violet of its simple charm. If every tiny flower wanted
to be a rose, spring would lose its loveliness.

Therese of Lisieux

Diversity is the mother of balance. . . . The diversity in our lives and around
us offers us many of our best options for balancing and rebalancing. As human
beings, we push and push and push for sameness, not really seeing that this
contributes to our feelings of imbalance. We want to be around people who are
similar to us. We want our culture to cover the globe. When we travel, we want
to stay in accommodations that are "familiar" to us. We want our children to
marry someone like us. We may like the idea of diversity,
yet we want the practicality of sameness!

Anne Wilson Schaef
Meditations for Living in Balance

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There are no nations! There is only humanity. And if we don't come to
understand that right soon, there will be no nations,
because there will be no humanity.

Issac Asimov

When you're finally up on the moon, looking back at the earth, all these
differences and nationalistic traits are pretty well going to blend and you're
going to get a concept that maybe this is really one world and why the
hell can't we learn to live together like decent people?

Frank Borman

Human diversity makes tolerance more than a virtue;
it makes it a requirement for survival.

René DuBos

The wave of the future is not the conquest of the world by a single dogmatic creed
but the liberation of the diverse energies of free nations and free people.

John F. Kennedy

I am in harmony with God's beautiful world. A summer bouquet may include an
assortment of flowers in a rainbow of colors. The variety makes the whole bouquet
even more beautiful. I realize I am one flower in the wondrous bouquet of humanity.
Without judging or comparing myself to others, I enjoy the unique beauty in all of us.
I am a divine expression of God and so is everyone else. As I value our commonalities
and our differences, I experience harmony. I relax into knowing that I am loved and
that I have a unique contribution to make. As I learn to love myself, I am at peace--
with myself and others. Living in peace, I am in harmony with God's beautiful world.

unattributed (Daily Word)

Diversity is the most basic principle of creation.
No two snowflakes, blades of grass, or people are alike.

Lynn Maria Laitala

Some people do things completely differently from the way you would
do them. It does not mean that they are right or that you are wrong.
It means that people are different. There are things that people say
which you would probably say in a different way, at a different time.
It does not mean that people are wrong to speak up, to speak out, or
to speak their minds. Nor does it mean that you are wrong for choosing
not to do so. It means that people are different. Different is not right
or wrong. It is a reality. Differences become problems only when we
choose to measure ourselves by our difference in an effort
to determine who is right and who is wrong.

Iyanla Vanzant

People need to see that far from being an obstacle, the world's diversity of
languages, religions, and traditions is a great treasure, affording us precious
opportunities to recognize ourselves in others.

Youssou N'Dour

The plague of humankind is the fear and rejection of diversity: monotheism,
monarchy, monogamy and, in our age, monomedicine. The belief that there is
only one right way to live, only one right way to regulate religious, political,
sexual, medical affairs is the root cause of the greatest threat to people: members
of our own species, bent on ensuring our salvation, security, and sanity.

Thomas Stephen Szasz

Unity, not uniformity, must be our aim. We attain unity only through
variety. Differences must be integrated, not annihilated, not absorbed.

Mary Parker Follett

What people mean by getting rid of conflict is getting rid of diversity,
and it is of the utmost importance that these
should not be considered the same.

Differences are not intended to separate, to alienate. We are
different precisely in order to realize our need of one another.

Desmond Tutu
Believe

Instead of separation and division, all distinctions make for a rich
diversity to be celebrated for the sake of unity that underlies them.
We are different so that we can know our need of one another.

One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much
attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of
our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each
of us as complex human beings.

Franklin Thomas

When a nation encourages the individual pursuit of happiness, there is
no guarantee that everyone is going to like what everyone else is doing.
That is part of freedom—tolerance of diversity.

Peter Gilman

I have a choice. By taking the time to understand the carrot's true
nature, I can assist it in becoming the best carrot its little DNA will
allow it to be. If I plant it well before the last frost, in a partially
shaded area so that it is protected from the heat of the summer sun,
and if I feed it less manure and more wood ash since it's a root crop,
chances are that I am making a major contribution to helping
that carrot realize its full potential.
I think people are very much like plants in this way. Just as plants
need the basics of soil, water, and sun to survive, we need the basics
of food, shelter, and love to even make a go of it. But once these
needs are dealt with, I think we owe it to ourselves to explore the
diversity within us. What special nutrient and care do we need to grow
into what we are destined to become? And, moreover, how can we
nurture our relationships in such a way that we allow those
close to us to mature into their highest forms?

Vivian Elisabeth Glyck
12 Lessons on Life I Learned from My Garden

Every person's map of the world is as unique as their thumbprint. There are
no two people alike. No two people who understand the same sentence the
same way. So in dealing with people you try not to fit them
to your concept of what they should be.

Milton Erickson

We lie if we say we do not see color and culture and difference. We fool
ourselves and cheat ourselves when we say that all of us are the same. We
should not want to be the same as others and we should not want others to
be the same as us. Rather, we ought to glory and shine in all of our differences,
flaunting them fabulously for all to see! It is never a conformity that we need!
We need not to conform! What we need is to burst out into all these beautiful colors!

C. JoyBell C.