Skip to content

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

— Es'kia Mphahlele Down Second Avenue (1959)

Another quote →

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)

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)

We’d never really known father before. And now living close to him and seeing him at close quarters, I realised that his face was unlikeable.

Down Second Avenue (1959)

All Es'kia Mphahlele quotes →

Attribution

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.