African Quotes

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

• If there are dreams about a beautiful South Africa, there are also roads that lead to their goal. Two of these roads could be named Goodness and Forgiveness.South Africa
• During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.South Africa
• Many people read History books but it takes just a few people to LEAD the cause that will shape the course of HISTORY.Nigeria
• For Africa to me... is more than a glamorous fact. It is a historical truth. No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place.United States
• It is easy to romanticize poverty, to see poor people as inherently lacking agency and will. It is easy to strip them of human dignity, to reduce them to objects of pity. This has never been clearer than in the view of Africa from the American media, in which we are shown poverty and conflicts without any context.Nigeria
• Men have singled out women of outstanding merit and put them on a pedestal to avoid recognizing the capabilities of all women.Egypt
• Every man who is pushed by his selfishness to trespass on the legitimate rights of women is robbing the rights of others and bringing harm to his country. He is an obstacle preventing the country from benefiting from the abilities and efforts of half the nation or more.Egypt
• I look at an ant and I see myself: a native South African, endowed by nature with a strength much greater than my size so I might cope with the weight of a racism that crushes my spirit.South Africa
• When the missionaries came to Africa they had the Bible and we had the land. They said 'Let us pray.' We closed our eyes. When we opened them we had the Bible and they had the land.South Africa
• You can't put money meant for the right course of action in the hands of criminals, rogues and thieves and expect to see positive changes or results.Nigeria
• The murder of Lumumba, in which the U.S. was involved, in the Congo destroyed Africa's major hope for development. Congo is now total horror story, for years.United States
• My wife thought I deserved it, but I always thought the Nobel a Western prize.Egypt
• We don't know how she always finds a way, the mystery of a woman. A saviour in the time of need, the bravery of a woman.In your time of need she does the deed, the magic of a woman.Uganda
• I defend both the freedom of expression and society's right to counter it. I must pay the price for differing. It is the natural way of things.Egypt
• No nation has ever been able to transform by chance. Its always a deliberate and conscious process.
• If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.South Africa
• Nigera is what it is because its leaders are not what they should be.Nigeria
• I am convinced that Nigeria would have been a more highly developed country without the oil. I wished we'd never smelled the fumes of petroleum.Nigeria
• Well, Nigeria has played a constructive role in peacekeeping in various parts of West Africa. But unless and until Nigeria itself is democratic and respects human rights, it too may well be a source of much greater instability as political repression limits the ability of the people of Nigeria to achieve their full potential.United States
• No country can really develop unless its citizens are educated.South Africa
• No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.South Africa
• I think what the Nobel committee is doing is going beyond war and looking at what humanity can do to prevent war. Sustainable management of our natural resources will promote peace.Kenya
• The Nobel Prize has given me, for the first time in my life, the feeling that my literature could be appreciated on an international level.Egypt
• As I have always affirmed, nobody’s ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian.Nigeria