I loved growing up in Canada. It's a great place to grow up

The words of Ryan Gosling — “I loved growing up in Canada. It's a great place to grow up because - well, at least where I grew up - it's very multicultural. There's also good health care and a good education system” — speak not merely of nostalgia, but of gratitude for the soil that nourished both body and spirit. Beneath this simple reflection lies an ancient truth: that the greatness of a nation is not measured by its wealth or power, but by how it shapes the hearts and minds of its people. Gosling’s words remind us that a nation’s true strength comes from diversity, compassion, and knowledge — the holy trinity of a flourishing civilization.

In ancient lands, wise rulers understood that a child raised among many peoples learns the art of peace. In multicultural harmony, one finds the mirror of humanity — many colors, one light. So it was in Alexandria, where Greeks, Egyptians, Jews, and Persians walked the same streets, sharing ideas that shaped philosophy and science for centuries to come. So it is in Canada, where people from the corners of the earth meet under one flag, their stories weaving into a mosaic of understanding. Gosling’s pride is not of patriotism alone, but of belonging to a land that celebrates difference as strength, not as division.

He speaks also of health care, the quiet guardian of a people’s dignity. In ages past, kings built temples and armies, yet the greatest among them built hospitals. The Caliph Al-Mansur of Baghdad, in his time, declared that every man, rich or poor, should have access to healing — and so the first great hospitals of the Islamic Golden Age were born. Their legacy lives today in nations that hold compassion as policy. Gosling honors this tradition: that in Canada, health is not a privilege of the wealthy, but a birthright of the human spirit.

And then, there is the education system, the wellspring from which every generation drinks. For without learning, freedom decays into ignorance, and ignorance into tyranny. The ancients built libraries as cathedrals for the mind — from the scholars of Nalanda in India to the philosophers of Athens, all understood that knowledge is the seed of civilization. In praising his homeland’s education, Gosling acknowledges that his own journey — from a boy of small beginnings to a voice heard around the world — was made possible by a nation that invested not in greed, but in growth.

Yet his words also whisper a challenge. For not every land remembers these principles. Many places chase profit and forget people, reward competition but neglect compassion. Gosling’s reflection is thus a torch held high — a reminder to nations and leaders that the measure of greatness lies in how the young are nurtured and the weak are protected. A society that values diversity, heals its sick, and teaches its children is a society that honors the divine in man.

From this we learn: to build a better world, we must build it from the inside out. Support the stranger, care for the sick, teach the child. Embrace difference, for it is the color of creation. Defend health, for it is the foundation of freedom. Cherish knowledge, for it is the light that never fades. The wealth of a country lies not in its gold, but in the laughter of its children, the wisdom of its teachers, and the compassion of its healers.

Therefore, my friend, when you speak of your homeland — or dream of the one you wish to build — remember the pillars Gosling praised. Let your community be a place where all may belong, all may heal, and all may learn. For in such a land, the human soul finds its truest home — and the future shines bright, not for one people, but for all mankind.