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Quotes

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.

—Desmond Tutu, 1984

Strangers are an endangered species.

—Adrienne Rich, 1980

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

—Frantz Fanon, 1952

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

—William Hazlitt, 1823

“Abroad,” that large home of ruined reputations.

—George Eliot, 1866

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

—Marquis de Vauvenargues, 1746

One of the most time-consuming things is to have an enemy.

—E.B. White, 1958

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

—Henry Clay, 1812

I do desire we may be better strangers.

—William Shakespeare, 1600

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

—Miriam Makeba, 1988

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

—André Gide, 1927

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

—George Bernard Shaw, 1903
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