By nature, men are nearly alike; by practice, they get to be wide apart.

“Abroad,” that large home of ruined reputations.

The misfortune of the man of color is having been enslaved. The misfortune and inhumanity of the white man are having killed man somewhere.

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

Of troubles none is greater than to be robbed of one’s native land.

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.

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

If you wish to avoid foreign collision, you had better abandon the ocean.

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

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

All men naturally hate each other. We have used concupiscence as best we can to make it serve the common good, but this is mere sham and a false image of charity, for essentially it is just hate.

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.

It’s good to remember that in crises, natural crises, human beings forget for a while their ignorances, their biases, their prejudices. For a little while, neighbors help neighbors and strangers help strangers.