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In Southern Africa, the black writer talks best about the ghetto life he knows; the white writer best about his own ghetto life. We see each other, black and white, as it were through a keyhole.

— Es'kia Mphahlele Down Second Avenue (1959)

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More quotes by Es'kia Mphahlele

About eight out of every ten educated Africans, most of whom are also professed Christians, still believe firmly in the spirits of their ancestors.

Down Second Avenue (1959)

You’ll come back and be able to look after yourself and the two you’re leaving behind.

Down Second Avenue (1959)

The Black man must enter the white man’s house through the back door. The Black man does most of the dirty work…

Down Second Avenue (1959)

The African sage says nothing belongs to you except what you have eaten: that is the only thing you can be sure of.

Down Second Avenue (1959)

I am an irrepressible teacher, and will teach anywhere I am invited to, as long as I am not asked to play the role of a token nigger.

Down Second Avenue (1959)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Es'kia Mphahlele (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.