When the missionaries first 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.

The conquest of the earth, which mostly means the taking it away from those who have a different complexion or slightly flatter noses than ourselves, is not a pretty thing when you look into it too much.

Other nations use “force”; we Britons alone use “might.”

The noblest kind of retribution is not to become like your enemy.

Our enemies are innovative and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our country and our people, and neither do we.

Who sees all beings in his own self, and his own self in all beings, loses all fear.

Patriotism is an ephemeral motive that scarcely ever outlasts the particular threat to society that aroused it.

We have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language.

Some of us would be greatly astonished to learn the reasons why others respect us.

A criminal may improve and become a decent member of society. A foreigner cannot improve. Once a foreigner, always a foreigner. There is no way out for him.

If a man be gracious and courteous to strangers, it shows he is a citizen of the world, and that his heart is no island cut off from other lands, but a continent that joins to them.

When you name yourself, you always name another.

I do desire we may be better strangers.