What was Pearl S. Buck's central idea about cross-cultural understanding?
My life's work was dedicated to the conviction that human beings everywhere share fundamental needs and desires. Whether in the rice paddies of China or the bustling streets of America, we all yearn for love, security, and dignity. I believed that the greatest barrier to peace and progress was not difference, but ignorance of one another. Through my writing, I strove to illuminate the common heart of humanity, to show that behind the varied customs and traditions, people are, at their core, alike. The test of any civilization, I felt, lies in how it treats its most vulnerable, and this truth transcends all cultures. We must see ourselves in others to truly understand.
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