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

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

There is no foreign land; it is the traveler only that is foreign.

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.

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

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

I am a man: I consider nothing human alien to me.

France has neither winter, summer, nor morals—apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country.

No man has any natural authority over his fellow man.

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

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

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.