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African countries, as colonies and even today as neo-colonies, came to be defined and to define themselves in terms of the languages of Europe: English-speaking, French-speaking or Portuguese-speaking African countries.

— Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o Decolonising the Mind: The Politics of Language in African Literature (1986)

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More quotes by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

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)

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