40 quotes
The voice of the people is the voice of God.
Devil on the Cross (1980)
Gikonyo greedily sucked sour pleasure from this reflection which he saw as a terrible revelation. To live and die alone is the ultimate truth.
A Grain of Wheat (1967)
Gatuĩria was at least aware that the slavery of language is the slavery of the mind and nothing to be proud of."
Devil on the Cross (1980)
As for carrying a gun for the whiteman, well, a time will come when you too will know that every man in the world is alone, and fights alone, to live.”
A Grain of Wheat (1967)
Therefore there are two hearts: the heart built by the clan of parasites, the evil heart; and the heart built by the clan of producers, the good heart."
Devil on the Cross (1980)
Who has told you that prophesy is yours alone, to keep to yourself? Why are you furnishing yourself with empty excuses? If you do that, you will never be free of tears and pleading cries."
Devil on the Cross (1980)
Soon everyone will know that he has created and then killed.
A Meeting In The Dark (1974)
I would even say that too much education can be a form of foolishness."
Devil on the Cross (1980)
Our people, think: I, Wangarĩ, a Kenyan by birth—how can I be a vagrant in my own country as if I were a foreigner?"
Devil on the Cross (1980)
The man who had suffered so much had further revealed his greatness in modesty. By refusing to lead, Mugo had become a legendary hero.
A Grain of Wheat (1967)
It makes his life more interesting to himself. He invents a meaning for his life, you see. Don’t we all do that? And to die fighting for freedom sounds more heroic than to die by accident.”
A Grain of Wheat (1967)
Your own actions are a better mirror of your life than the actions of all your enemies put together.
Wizard of the Crow (2006)
Then change the world. Give it a soul.
Wizard of the Crow (2006)
The condition of women in a nation is the real measure of its progress.
Wizard of the Crow (2006)
Stories, like food, lose their flavor if cooked in a hurry.
Wizard of the Crow (2006)
What is the difference between a politician who says Africa cannot do without imperialism and the writer who says Africa cannot do without European languages?
Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature (1986)
Then the white men had come, preaching a strange religion, strange ways, which all men followed. The tribe's code of behaviour was broken.
A Meeting In The Dark (1974)
Stay well, Son. Go well and in peace, Mother.
A Meeting In The Dark (1974)
Different! Different! Puu! They are all alike. Those coated with the white clay of the white man’s ways are the worst. They have nothing inside.
A Meeting In The Dark (1974)
Belief in yourself is more important than endless worries of what others think of you. Value yourself and others will value you. Validation is best that comes from within.
Dreams in a Time of War (2010)