I want to be the white man’s brother, not his brother-in-law.

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.

When you name yourself, you always name another.

In settling an island, the first building erected by a Spaniard will be a church, by a Frenchman a fort, by a Dutchman a warehouse, and by an Englishman an alehouse.

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

Once any group in society stands in a relatively deprived position in relation to other groups, it is genuinely deprived.

France has neither winter, summer, nor morals—apart from these drawbacks it is a fine country.

Your worst enemy cannot harm you as much as your own thoughts, unguarded.

Do not do unto others as you would that they should do unto you. Their tastes may not be the same.

To need to dominate others is to need others. The commander is dependent.

“Abroad,” that large home of ruined reputations.

I do desire we may be better strangers.

There is no foreign land; it is the traveler only that is foreign.