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Diversity is a word which indicates the variety, or ranges of differences which exist in a group. In sociology and politics regarding multiculturalism, diversity, is quality of social entities (neighborhoods, student bodies, nations, etc.) with members who have identifiable differences in their cultural backgrounds or lifestyles.
- See also:
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A
- The presence of different nations under the same sovereignty...provides against the servility which flourishes under the shadow of a single authority. ... Liberty provokes diversity, and diversity preserves liberty by supplying the means of organisation. ... This diversity in the same State is a firm barrier against the intrusion of the government beyond the political sphere which is common to all into the social department which escapes legislation and is ruled by spontaneous laws. This sort of interference is characteristic of an absolute government, and is sure to provoke a reaction, and finally a remedy. That intolerance of social freedom which is natural to absolutism is sure to find a corrective in the national diversities, which no other force could so efficiently provide. The co-existence of several nations under the same State is a test, as well as the best security of its freedom. It is also one of the chief instruments of civilisation; and, as such, it is in the natural and providential order, and indicates a state of greater advancement than the national unity which is the ideal of modern liberalism.
- Lord Acton, ‘Nationality’, Home and Foreign Review (July 1862), quoted in Lord Acton, The History of Freedom and Other Essays, eds. John Neville Figgis and Reginald Vere Laurence (1907), pp. 289–290
- The U.S. Army is focused on preparing for large-scale combat operations. Its training, equipment, experience in combat, and the quality of its Soldiers make it effective and lethal. The diversity within the U.S. military's forces must grow and adapt to the diversity of the United States. The cultural and ethnic differences of its Soldiers are the unique assets that our adversaries lack. Diversity in the U.S. Army is its strength and combat multiplier.
- Sergeant Major Alexander Aguilastratt, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), Diversity is Our Army's Strength, Army University Press, 9 October 2020
- The U.S. Army has a history of diversity with minority groups and women serving in every major conflict from the American Revolutionary War to the present (“The Army and Diversity,” n.d.). Even when not allowed to serve in an official capacity, the men and women of this country, from varied backgrounds, contributed to the greater good. From the Tuskegee Airmen (African-American aviators and support crew serving in the U.S. Army Air Corps during WWII) to Medal of Honor recipients Dr. Mary E. Walker (an Army surgeon serving in the Civil War) and Master Sgt. Roy Benavidez (a Vietnam veteran of Native American and Hispanic descent); their actions proved members of any race, gender, and background are capable of the highest levels of bravery and honor, paving the way for the full integration of today's Army.
- Sergeant Major Alexander Aguilastratt, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC),[Diversity is Our Army's Strength, Army University Press, 9 October 2020
- The U.S. Army has put programs in place to ensure all Soldiers, Civilians, and Family members, regardless of race, gender, or background are protected against bigotry and prejudice. The Army currently has the Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) program to prevent discrimination and provide proactive training and education, and the Sexual Harassment Assault Response Prevention (SHARP) program to prevent sexual harassment and sexual assaults. Both of these programs work to ensure a healthy, fair, and cooperative work environment so the U.S. Army can continue to fulfill its mission of protecting the Nation at full readiness.
- Sergeant Major Alexander Aguilastratt, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), Diversity is Our Army's Strength, Army University Press, 9 October 2020
- As the U.S. gears up for a return of the great power competition, the margin for error against near-peer adversaries grows smaller. According to author Jason Lyall, who studied 850 armies over the span of 250 years, “victory on the battlefield over the past 200 years has usually gone to the most inclusive armies, not the largest or best-equipped ones. Inclusion, in other words, is good for military effectiveness” (Lyall, 2020, para. 2). Diversity, like any other tool or system, must be maintained and exercised frequently. It should be celebrated and practiced from the most junior-ranking private, to the highest-ranking officer, and protected from those who do not share the Army Values. By investing in its people, the Army will continue to overcome all challenges and accomplish any mission.
- Sergeant Major Alexander Aguilastratt, U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC), Diversity is Our Army's Strength, Army University Press, 9 October 2020
- One of the difficult problems of the world was to secure peace, freedom, and democratic government in countries inhabited by more than one community. It could not be done by one community seeking to dominate the others, but only by fair dealing and mutual tolerance. He sometimes thought that those who adopted extreme nationalist ideas did so because they had no constructive ideas and because an appeal to race prejudice saved them from an intolerable burden of thought. In his view the variations in the make-up of a community increased its value.
- Clement Attlee, broadcast from Singapore (6 September 1954), quoted in The Times (7 September 1954), p. 7
B
- A novel is balanced between a few true impressions and the multitude of false ones that make up most of what we call life. It tells us that for every human being there is a diversity of existences, that the single existence is itself an illusion in part, that these many existences signify something, tend to something, fulfill something; it promises us meaning, harmony, and even justice.
- Saul Bellow, Nobel Prize lecture (12 December 1976)
- Every person, every race, every nation, has its own particular keynote which it brings to the general chord of life and of humanity. Life is not a monotone but a many-stringed harmony, and to this harmony is contributed a distinctive note by each individual.
D
- A democracy is more than a form of government; it is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience. The extension in space of the number of individuals who participate in an interest so that each has to refer his own action to that of others, and to consider the action of others to give point and direction to his own, is equivalent to the breaking down of those barriers of class, race, and national territory which kept men from realizing the full import of their activity. These more numerous and more varied points of contact denote a greater diversity of stimuli to which an individual has to respond; they consequently put a premium on variation in action. They secure a liberation of powers which remain suppressed as long as the incitations to action are partial, as they must be in a group which in its exclusiveness shuts out many interests.
- Science and religion are two human enterprises sharing many common features. They share these features also with other enterprises such as art, literature and music. The most salient features of all these enterprises are discipline and diversity. Discipline to submerge the individual fantasy in a greater whole. Diversity to give scope to the infinite variety of human souls and temperaments. Without discipline there can be no greatness. Without diversity there can be no freedom. Greatness for the enterprise, freedom for the individual—these are the two themes, contrasting but not incompatible, that make up the history of science and the history of religion.
- Freeman Dyson, Infinite in All Directions (1988) pp. 5-6 (paperback, 1989).
- I do not claim any ability to read God's mind. I am sure of only one thing. When we look at the glory of stars and galaxies in the sky and the glory of forests and flowers in the living world around us, it is evident that God loves diversity. Perhaps the universe is constructed according to a principle of maximum diversity.
- Freeman Dyson, Progress In Religion : A Talk By Freeman Dyson, acceptance speech for the Templeton Prize, Washington National Cathedral (9 May 2000)
F
- A foundational assumption of the dogma of diversity, as proselytized on college campuses, is that a community becomes stronger when its members don’t have much in common. And further: When we dwell upon—indeed, fetishize—the superficial differences of sex, race, or ethnicity, we will be stronger still. This is a dumbass idea. Yet it is seldom held up for examination or debate. It should be obvious that no multicultural paradise would be possible at all if its citizens weren’t free to peaceably express their diverse views. Free speech is prior to diversity, as the philosophers say. It is a necessary condition of diversity, and probably diversity’s greatest guarantor. To extol inclusion at the expense of speech is incoherent and unserious—a mere reflex of campus ideology in our era of discontent. Unserious, yes, but not unprecedented.
- Andrew Ferguson, "Hurrah for the First Amendment, but..." (23 March 2018), The Weekly Standard
- Well, I could be wrong, but I believe diversity is an old, old wooden ship that was used during the Civil War era.
- Will Ferrell, as Ron Burgundy in "Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy" (2004),
G
- Diversity, equity and inclusion in the military are necessities for the United States, Bishop Garrison, the senior advisor to the secretary of defense for human capital and diversity, equity and inclusion said. Garrison spoke to the Center for a New American Security today about the progress being made by the department and what still needs to happen. Some 41 percent of the military identify as members of minority groups, and that number will grow larger, Garrison said. The military must be able to attract, train and retain them for the services to retain competitive edges, he said.
- Jim Garamone, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Are Necessities in U.S. Military, DOD News, 9 February 2022
- Fewer Americans between the ages of 18 to 24 — the prime ages for recruits — qualify for military service. "So, we have to find out ways of getting to a broader talent pool and broader interest groups in order to bring those highly qualified, talented individuals in," he said. He noted that the percentage of minorities drops as they rise up the ranks. "Their numbers tend to begin to decline in terms of service; they tend to get out, and there could be a variety of reasons as to why that actually is," he said. "We need to take a very data-driven approach to get a better understanding as to what's actually happening here. What is the problem? And how can we address it?"
- Jim Garamone, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Are Necessities in U.S. Military, DOD News, 9 February 2022
- Garrison said the need for diversity, equity and inclusion to be a consideration or a part of all decisions in the military. "I would hope that as many leaders and members of the total force as possible see [diversity, equity and inclusion] efforts as a force multiplier," he said. He wants them to see the program as a way to make the U.S. military more successful in achieving critical missions and in making forces more lethal. Bringing in more talented infantry personnel or military intelligence analysts is the goal for any program, he said. When the military gets recruits from diverse backgrounds, there will be more innovative thought, more innovative solutions to incredibly complex and complicated problems that are facing the national security apparatus today, he said. "I want people to see [diversity, equity and inclusion] as another tool in the toolkit and another way of solving these problems. "It's not just something that has to be done because of some type of cultural ideology or culture wars that are going on — that's not the case at all. It is, again, not diversity for diversity's sake," Garrison said.
- Jim Garamone, Diversity, Equity, Inclusion Are Necessities in U.S. Military, DOD News, 9 February 2022
- Peace is not unity in similarity but unity in diversity, in the comparison and conciliation of differences.
- Mikhail Gorbachev, Nobel Lecture, June 5, 1991.
- In all your communications, be conscious of your group’s diversity. The group you’re speaking with is likely more diverse than what you’re used to. There may be children and teenagers as well as adults. For many or most, English won’t be their first language. They probably live in multiple countries, have had a broad diversity of experiences, and and hold a wide array of beliefs. This creates a bunch of potential pitfalls. Your jokes may fall flat or offend people. Cultural references (sports, movies, history) may be meaningless. Even for those of us who aren’t American, it’s easy to come across as U.S.-centric. Metaphors, allusions and convoluted sentence structures may not be worth the time they’d take readers to untangle, and make translations much more difficult. High diversity argues for a style that’s literal, straightforward, and well-structured.
- Sue Gardner A little guide to working with online communities March 21, 2016
K
- If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children's future. And we are all mortal.
- John F. Kennedy, Address at American University, Washington D.C. (10 June 1963)
- Ultimately, America's answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired.
- Robert F. Kennedy, Extremism, Left and Right, pt. 3, "The Pursuit of Justice" (1964).
M
- Leisure for reflection, somewhere near the end of a long career, leads me to thank God for allowing me to live in a society sufficiently free of Governmental control to allow the citizenry expression of its true diversity, which is to say, diversity of thought.
- David Mamet, A Secret Knowledge, p. 16
- In the Mahabharata, the ceremony for the oath of a new king includes the admonition: 'Be like a garland-maker, O king, and not like a charcoal burner.' The garland symbolizes social coherence; it is a metaphor for dharmic diversity in which flowers of many colors and forms are strung harmoniously for the most pleasing effect. In contrast, the charcoal burner is a metaphor for the brute-force reduction of diversity into homogeneity, where diverse living substances are transformed into uniformly lifeless ashes.
- Indras Net by Rajiv Malhotra, p.10., 1st ed.
- We have challenges to be sure, but the military has been and remains the largest meritocracy in the world. We promote, we advance and we select based on your knowledge, your skills, your attributes and the content of your character. We are stronger together. Diversity builds a better team and readiness.
- Mark Milley, remark at a virtual global Department of Defense town hall on 24 September 2020, as quoted by David Vergun, DoD leaders discuss diversity, inclusion with military members, families, Army.mil, 24 September 2020
- Opportunity in our military must be reflective of the diverse talent in order for us to remain strong. Our nation is ready to fulfill the promise of our Constitution to build a more perfect union and to ensure equal justice for all people, and it is your generation that can and will bring the joint force to be truly inclusive of all people.
- Mark Milley, in a May 2021 address at a joint U.S. Army ROTC and U.S. Air Force ROTC commissioning ceremony at Howard University, as quoted in Joint Chiefs chairman urges greater racial diversity in the military, MilitaryTimes.com, original article by Robert Burns and Lolita C. Baldor, The Associated Press, 5 May 2021
P
- Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit.
And there are differences of administrations, but the same Lord.
And there are diversities of operations, but it is the same God which worketh all in all.
But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man, to profit withal.
For to one is given, by the Spirit, the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge, by the same Spirit;
To another, faith by the same Spirit; to another, the gifts of healing, by the same Spirit;
To another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another, discerning of spirits; to another, divers kinds of tongues; to another, the interpretation of tongues.
But all these worketh that one and the self-same Spirit, dividing to every man severally, as he will.- Paul of Tarsus, 1 Corinthians 12:4-11 as quoted by John Locke, An Essay for the Understanding of St. Paul's Epistles (1812) pp.165-166
- Inter-racial trust is relatively high in homogeneous South Dakota and relatively low in heterogeneous San Francisco or Los Angeles. The more ethnically diverse the people we live around, the less we trust them... In highly diverse Los Angeles or San Francisco...roughly 30 percent of the inhabitants say that they trust their neighbours "a lot", whereas in the ethnically homogeneous communities of North and South Dakota, 70–80 percent of the inhabitants say the same. In more diverse communities, people trust their neighbours less.
- Robert Putnam, ‘E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century: The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture’, Scandinavian Political Studies, Volume 30, Issue 2 (15 June 2007), pp. 147-148
- [I]n more diverse settings, Americans distrust not merely people who do not look like them, but even people who do... Diversity seems to trigger not in-group/out-group division, but anomie or social isolation. In colloquial language, people living in ethnically diverse settings appear to "hunker down" – that is, to pull in like a turtle.
- Robert Putnam, ‘E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century: The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture’, Scandinavian Political Studies, Volume 30, Issue 2 (15 June 2007), pp. 148-149
- Diversity does not produce "bad race relations" or ethnically-defined group hostility, our findings suggest. Rather, inhabitants of diverse communities tend to withdraw from collective life, to distrust their neighbours, regardless of the colour of their skin, to withdraw even from close friends, to expect the worst from their community and its leaders, to volunteer less, give less to charity and work on community projects less often, to register to vote less, to agitate for social reform more, but have less faith that they can actually make a difference, and to huddle unhappily in front of the television. Note that this pattern encompasses attitudes and behaviour, bridging and bonding social capital, public and private connections. Diversity, at least in the short term, seems to bring out the turtle in all of us.
- Robert Putnam, ‘E Pluribus Unum: Diversity and Community in the Twenty-first Century: The 2006 Johan Skytte Prize Lecture’, Scandinavian Political Studies, Volume 30, Issue 2 (15 June 2007), pp. 150-151
R
- Because of our polyglot background, we have had all the strength in the world.
- Ronald Reagan on 10 August 1988, while signing the Bill Providing Restitution for the Wartime Internment of Japanese-American Civilians, quoting himself at the funeral of Kazuo Masuda in December 1945.
- Star Trek was an attempt to say that humanity will reach maturity and wisdom on the day that it begins not just to tolerate, but take a special delight in differences in ideas and differences in life forms. […] If we cannot learn to actually enjoy those small differences, to take a positive delight in those small differences between our own kind, here on this planet, then we do not deserve to go out into space and meet the diversity that is almost certainly out there.
S
- The current ideology of religious harmony emphasizes similarity—different religions are harmonious because they say the same thing; The older doctrine of multiple paths lays stress on their diversity—these paths are valid because they serve genuine different needs and answer to different natures. In short, they serve humanity not by being the same but by being different.
- Ram Swarup. Ramakrishna Mission. (1986). Ramakrishna Mission: In search of a new identity.
T
- There are a great number of LGBT people across 'Star Trek' fandom. The show always appealed to people that were different — the geeks and the nerds, and the people who felt they were not quite a part of society, sometimes because they may have been gay or lesbian. 'Star Trek' is about acceptance and the strength of the Starship Enterprise is that it embraces diversity in all its forms.
- George Takei in "Here's why George Takei says ‘Star Trek’ fans are 'totally accepting' of sexual orientation", by Aly Weisman, Business Insider, Jun. 30, 2015.
V
- "Diversity" has become an omnipresent emblem of openness and fairness. It is now an essential component of corporate responsibility: there is a widespread expectation for companies to show their commitment to "diversity", elements of a "diversity" policy and evidence (e.g., smiling pictures) of a diverse workforce in annual reports, websites, promotional and recruitment materials.
- Steven Vertovec, "Diversity and the Social Imaginary" (2012)
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