Geert Hofstede

"All societies are unequal, but some are more unequal than others."

"Individualism implies a loosely knit social framework in which people are supposed to take care of themselves and of their immediate families only."

"is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally."

"Individualism denotes the relationship between the individual and the collectivity which prevails in a given society."

"What Machiavelli did not write but what the association between political systems and citizens mental software suggests is that which animal the ruler should impersonate depends strongly on what animals the followers are."

"Culture is the collective programming of the mind distinguishing the members of one group or category of people from others."

"Cross-cultural studies presuppose a systems approach, by which I mean that any element of the total system called ``culture’’ should be eligible for analysis, regardless of the discipline that usually deals with such elements. At the level of (national) cultures, these are phenomena on all levels: individuals, groups, organizations, or society as a whole may be relevant. There is no excuse for overlooking any vital factor because it is usually treated in someone else’s department at the university."

"Values are a broad tendency to prefer certain states of affairs over others."

"In most collectivist cultures, direct confrontation of another person is considered rude and undesirable. The word no is seldom used, because saying “no” is a confrontation; “you may be right” and “we will think about it” are examples of polite ways of turning down a request. In the same vein, the word yes should not necessarily be inferred as an approval, since it is used to maintain the line of communication: “yes, I heard you” is the meaning it has in Japan."

"Collectivism stands for a society in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong, cohesive in-groups, which throughout peoples lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty."

"Individualism pertains to societies in which the ties between individuals are loose: everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family."