African Quotes

Quotes from African writers, leaders and thinkers — cited to a published source wherever one is known. 269 in the archive.

• When I began going to school and learned to read, I encountered stories of other people and other lands.Nigeria
• I grew up in poverty, but I always saw it as a challenge. The good thing is that you can surmount a challenge if you are willing to pay the price. The price is hard work.Tanzania
• I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.South Africa
• I work hard, I work late, I have nothing on my conscience. When I go to bed, I sleep.Liberia
• If I had not grown up in Nigeria- and if all I knew of Africa were of popular images- I too would think that africa was a place of beautiful landscapes, beautiful animals and incomprehensible people fighting sensless wars, dying of poverty and aids- unable to speak for themselves and waiting to be saved by a kind white foreigner.Nigeria
• If we reject science, we reject the common man.Egypt
• If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work, then every woman in Africa would be a millionaire.United Kingdom
• Once you allow yourself to identify with the people in a story, then you might begin to see yourself in that story even if on the surface it's far removed from your situation. This is what I try to tell my students: this is one great thing that literature can do - it can make us identify with situations and people far away.Nigeria
• In whatever you do, strive to be the best at it.Nigeria
• Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.Ethiopia
• Today's interpretations of religion are often backward and contradict the needs of civilization.Egypt
• Those who invest in South Africa should not think they are doing us a favor; they are here for what they get out of our cheap and abundant labor, and they should know that they are buttressing one of the most vicious systems.South Africa
• According to Islamic principles, when a man is accused of heresy, he is given the choice between repentance and punishment.Egypt
• It always seems impossible until its done.South Africa
• It is both the duty and responsibility of the world's fortunate few to help fulfil the legitimate aspirations of the unfortunate many.Ethiopia
• It is much easier to show compassion to animals. They are never wicked.Ethiopia
• It is easy enough to shout slogans, to sign manifestos, but it is quite a different matter to build, manage, command, spend days and nights seeking the solution to problems.Congo
• It's clearly more important to treat one's fellow man well than to be always praying and fasting and touching one's head to a prayer mat.Egypt
• In Africa today, we recognise that trade and investment, and not aid, are pillars of development.Rwanda
• We're a sentimental people. We like a few kind words better than millions of dollars given in a humiliating way.Egypt
• As you start out in life, it is important that you know at least something about everything, but as you get older it is important that you know everything about something.South Africa
• If we knew the meaning to everything that is happening to us, then there would be no meaning.Uganda
• The Koran and the laws of all civilized nations legislate against the vilification of religions.Egypt
• It is better to lead from behind and to put others in front, especially when you celebrate victory when nice things occur. You take the front line when there is danger. Then people will appreciate your leadership.South Africa