Famous Quotes by Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o

Stories, like food, is a basic need of humanity.

Our lives are a battlefield on which is fought a continuous war between the forces that are pledged to confirm our humanity and those determined to dismantle it.

It is not enough to know the world; one has to change it.

The power of the writer is to capture the struggles and victories of a people; to remind them of their rich histories.

Literature, whether handed down by word of mouth or in print, gives us a second handle on reality.

Language as culture is the collective memory bank of a people's experience in history.

Imperialism, in whatever guise, has always been about robbery, theft, and violence.

The biggest weapon wielded and actually daily unleashed by imperialism against that collective defiance is the cultural bomb.

A language is a carrier of people's memories and experiences, their link between space and time, their vision of the world.

How did we arrive at a situation where the majority of African children know more about European languages and history than about their own?

Education, far from giving people the confidence in their ability to shape their own lives, undermined their sense of identity and confidence.

If you know all the languages of the world and you don’t know your mother tongue, that is enslavement.

Culture is a product of the history which it in turn reflects.

Written literature, oral literature, and language are key tools for people to reclaim their humanity and to challenge cultural domination.

Language, any language, has a dual character: it is both a means of communication and a carrier of culture.

Memory is the link between the past and the present, between the present and the future.

In time of war, the loudest patriots are the greatest profiteers.

African writers are living history in their works.