To think ill of mankind, and not wish ill to them, is perhaps the highest wisdom and virtue.

The less intelligent the white man is, the more stupid he thinks the black.

The almost insoluble task is to let neither the power of others, nor our own powerlessness, stupefy us.

Many need no other provocation to enmity than that they find themselves excelled.

When you name yourself, you always name another.

I want to be the white man’s brother, not his brother-in-law.

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

In settling an island, the first building erected by a Spaniard will be a church, by a Frenchman a fort, by a Dutchman a warehouse, and by an Englishman an alehouse.

Africa has her mysteries, and even a wise man cannot understand them. But a wise man respects them.

The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.

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

Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.

This is not a clash between civilizations. It is a clash about civilization.