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

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

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

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

When you name yourself, you always name another.

I do desire we may be better strangers.

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

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

“Abroad,” that large home of ruined reputations.

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.

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