Humanity

If anyone is being hurt, we are all being hurt. If anyone has joy, that’s our joy. (1)

A refugee could be anybody. It could be you or me. The so-called refugee crisis is a human crisis. (2)

Being part of humanity is hard for us to understand. If you are a tree, it’s hard to understand the forest. (3)

How we look at other people very often tells us about ourselves. I think that’s an honest reflection of the nature of human beings. (4)

If you help one person, you help humanity. (5)

I want to show the refugees’ beauty. I want to show that even under the most difficult circumstances, the beauty is still there. The beautiful and the dark exist in the same picture. (6)

I have great sympathy for people who fear migrants, for their lack of knowledge, and as a result, their lack of understanding of humanity. (7)

As human beings, we are lucky enough to have imagination. Our hearts can be so big, we can imagine beyond the physical boundary. Humans are so beautiful in that way. That’s why we have poetry, we have music, we have art. (8)

Humans do not rule the universe. We are temporary passengers. (9)

We have a saying in China: water, if it drips long enough, can penetrate a stone. We must look at things with this perspective. It always comes down to some kind of struggle. It can take ages, but the human spirit—our will to be free, to have a chance, to communicate face to face, to shake hands and to share space—is much stronger than anything. (10)

I cannot give all the refugees food, tea, or money, but I can let their voices be heard and recognized. I can give them a platform to be acknowledged, to testify that they are human beings. (11)

I was born when my father was a refugee. I understood how low humanity can go. (12)

As an artist, I have to relate to humanity’s struggles. I never separate that from my art. (13)

Humanity is losing its vision and courage. (14)

I think the refugee crisis is a global crisis, it’s a human crisis. We cannot just say it’s a refugee crisis. It’s not regional, it’s not just happening in the Middle East. It also happens in Africa, in Bangladesh, in many, many other locations. (15)

In any kind of religion, to save one life or to help one life is the highest ritual. Nothing can be higher than that. (8)

You begin to understand that we all have the same basic needs, that our sense of humanity and integrity, our desire for warmth and safety, to be well-treated and respected, are the same. (16)

I was not born an artist, I was born a human. I care about human conditions, rather than the opinions of others. I don’t have a choice. (17)

We always have to share compassion with other people—otherwise, how can we call ourselves human beings? (8)

Drones are fascinating—they offer a point of view which is not the human point of view. It’s from either a bird, or from God. Looking at a human this way can be so indifferent. And it shows the flow of refugees as some part of the nature—it’s like water flowing, or ice melting. I like that kind of metaphor, because we very often talk about how different and how foreign those people are. (18)

In this society, we talk about individuality—is that really there without essential rights? (19)

Human rights always need to be defended everywhere, and by doing that, we benefit everybody. (20)

Art is about aesthetics, about morals, about our belief in humanity. Without that there is simply no art. (21)

If we feel that one human being is connected to another, then we have the solution. If we talk about geo-politics, legislation, and technical problems, then we miss the point. (22)

It is human nature to believe that we are so smart, that we control the universe. But, at the same time, human nature is suicidal, because we never fully appreciate how temporary and ephemeral our fate really is. (3)

There is the religious argument that human beings, from a certain height, are all the same. (9)

This refugee crisis is testing and challenging our humanity, within everybody. We have to understand we’re all part of it. (23)

We’re all human beings. We have to find a way to benefit each other, to help each other, rather than to have hatred toward each other. (24)

People are saying, “We are better than them. They are the danger. They are the problem.” It’s not recognizing humanity as one. It’s against the ideology that we’re all created equal, and it’s a violation of our understanding of human rights and human dignity. (25)

I really question our ability to imagine ourselves in other people’s conditions, and if we don’t start doing that, I don’t think humanity has any hope. (4)

You see humanity struggling with the worst conditions and the worst situations, but you also see the people who have lost everything or who gave up everything for their children or their family—you see the very brave side of humanity. (26)

I feel people and I feel their pain. I have strong feelings when people are treated differently, when humanity is not as one, not connected. (27)

Artists don’t have to become more political, artists have to become more human. (17)

I always see humanity as one. If someone’s rights are violated, we are all deeply hurt. (8)

In this time of uncertainty, we need more tolerance, compassion, and trust for each other since we all are one. Otherwise, humanity will face an even bigger crisis. (28)

Artists must trust that they can relate to essential human needs, like the breathing of air and the thirst for water. Whatever is produced should share those essential elements of life. (29)

The most difficult part is that you see that the refugees desperately need some understanding. It’s not really that they need money. They need people to look at them and see them as human beings. (30)

During the saddest moments in our history, mankind has had to prove their worth as humans to their own kind. (11)

To get yourself involved, to make the situation a little bit lighter, to make some jokes, to cut hair or barbecue, it brings a human touch. It’s everyday life. It’s humanizing them, and humanizing myself. (31)

To picture the refugees as dangerous and to relate the name “refugee” to “terrorist” or “a threat to society” is extremely narrow-minded and cold. It will not help our society to become a healthy society. (32)

Yes, we have different religions, different backgrounds, different languages, but humanity is one; we’re all vulnerable. We all want to have safety and for our children to have possibilities. We need to protect each other. (32)

In today’s Europe we see a lot of people trying to push refugees away. Humanity will always win. I don’t think this kind of segregation and hatred can win. (33)

Human flow has always happened in human history. In many cases, it’s part of our humanity and our civilization. (34)

This is a moment to challenge what kind of humanity we have today, and how we look at the refugees: Are they part of us? Are we willing to recognize we are part of the problem? (18)

We have to give every refugee essential protection. The tragedy is not only that people have lost their lives. The tragedy is the people who, in the very rich nations, have lost their humanity. (35)

The most profound thing is how we respect humans in this society, how we establish love and protect rights and establish the essential idea that we are all the same. (36)

You have to see them as normal human beings just like anybody else, rather than to think you have to give mercy to them. (37)

My utopian vision is based on the idea that all men are created equal and that life is precious. (38)

I cherish beauty and aesthetics even in the worst conditions. I think that is related to the best part of our humanity—we are dreamers, we have imagination. (39)