Quotes by Greatest Leaders

Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere Quotes

Biography:
Julius Kambarage Nyerere (April 13, 1922 - October 14, 1999) was President of Tanzania (previously Tanganyika), from the country's founding in 1964, until his retirement in 1985. Born in Tanganyika to a local Zanaki chief called Nyerere Burito, Julius Nyerere was known by the Swahili name Mwalimu, or "teacher," because of his profession before becoming active in politics. Nyerere was the first African head of state to retire voluntarily. He stepped down because he realized that his socialist policies of communal ownership of farms and state ownership of services were not working.

"No nation has the right to make decisions for another nation; no people for another people."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, from his A Peaceful New Year speech given in Tanzania on 1 January 1968.

 "If real development is to take place, the people have to be involved."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, from his book Uhuru na Maendeleo (Freedom and Development), 1973.

 "In Tanganyika we believe that only evil, Godless men would make the color of a man's skin the criteria for granting him civil rights."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere addressing British Governor-General Richard Gordon Turnbull, at a meeting of the Legco, prior to taking up the premiership in 1960.

"The African is not 'Communistic' in his thinking; he is -- if I may coin an expression -- 'communitary'."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere as quoted in the New York Times Magazine on 27 March 1960.

"Having come into contact with a civilization which has over-emphasized the freedom of the individual, we are in fact faced with one of the big problems of Africa in the modern world. Our problem is just this: how to get the benefits of European society -- benefits that have been brought about by an organization based upon the individual -- and yet retain African's own structure of society in which the individual is a member of a kind of fellowship."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere as quoted in the New York Times Magazine on 27 March 1960.

"We, in Africa, have no more need of being 'converted' to socialism than we have of being 'taught' democracy. Both are rooted in our past -- in the traditional society which produced us."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, from his book Uhuru na Umoja (Freedom and Unity): Essays on Socialism, 1967.

"No nation has the right to make decisions for another nation; no people for another people."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, from his A Peaceful New Year speech given in Tanzania on 1 January 1968.

"In Tanzania, it was more than one hundred tribal units which lost their freedom; it was one nation that regained it."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, from his Stability and Change in Africa speech given to the University of Toronto, Canada, 2 October 1969.

"If a door is shut, attempts should be made to open it; if it is ajar, it should be pushed until it is wide open. In neither case should the door be blown up at the expense of those inside."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, from his Stability and Change in Africa speech given to the University of Toronto, Canada, 2 October 1969.

"You don't have to be a Communist to see that China has a lot to teach us in development. The fact that they have a different political system than ours has nothing to do with it."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, as quoted in Donald Robinson's The 100Most Important People in the World Today, New York 1970.

"[A] man is developing himself when he grows, or earns, enough to provide decent conditions for himself and his family; he is not being developed if someone gives him these things."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, from his book Uhuru na Maendeleo (Freedom and Development), 1973.

"...intellectuals have a special contribution to make to the development of our nation, and to Africa. And I am asking that their knowledge, and the greater understanding that they should possess, should be used for the benefit of the society of which we are all members."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, from his book Uhuru na Maendeleo (Freedom and Development), 1973.

"If real development is to take place, the people have to be involved."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, from his book Uhuru na Maendeleo (Freedom and Development), 1973.

"We can try to cut ourselves from our fellows on the basis of the education we have had; we can try to carve our for ourselves an unfair share of the wealth of the society. But the cost to us, as well as to our fellow citizens, will be very high. It will be high not only in terms of satisfactions forgone, but also in terms of our own security and well-being."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, from his book Uhuru na Maendeleo (Freedom and Development), 1973.

"To measure a country's wealth by its gross national product is to measure things, not satisfactions."
From a speech written by Julius Kambarage Nyerere, The Rational Choice given on 2 January 1973 in Khartoum.

"Capitalism is very dynamic. It is a fighting system. Each capitalist enterprise survives by successfully fighting other capitalist enterprises."
From a speech written by Julius Kambarage Nyerere, The Rational Choice given on 2 January 1973 in Khartoum.

"Capitalism means that the masses will work, and a few people -- who may not labor at all -- will benefit from that work. The few will sit down to a banquet, and the masses will eat whatever is left over."
From a speech written by Julius Kambarage Nyerere, The Rational Choice given on 2 January 1973 in Khartoum.
"We spoke and acted as if, given the opportunity for self-government, we would quickly create utopias. Instead injustice, even tyranny, is rampant."
Julius Kambarage Nyerere, as quoted in David Lamb's The Africans, New York 1985.

Jomo Kenyatta Quotes

A Selection of Quotes by Jomo Kenyatta

"It Africans were left in peace on their own lands, Europeans would have to offer them the benefits of white civilization in real earnest before they could obtain the African labour which they want so much. They would have to offer the African a way of life which was really superior to the one his fathers lived before, and a share in the prosperity given them by their command of science. They would have to let the African choose what parts of European culture could be beneficially transplanted, and how they could be adapted ... The African is conditioned, by cultural and social institutions of centuries, to a freedom of which Europe has little conception, and it is not in his nature to accept serfdom for ever."
Jomo Kenyatta, first president of Kenya, from the conclusion to his book Facing Mount Kenya, 1938.

"Europeans assume that, given the right knowledge and ideas, personal relations can be left largely to take care of themselves, and this is perhaps the most fundamental difference in outlook between Africans and Europeans."
Jomo Kenyatta, first president of Kenya, from his book Facing Mount Kenya, 1938.

"You and I must work together to develop our country, to get education for our children, to have doctors, to build roads, to improve or provide all day-to-day essentials."
Jomo Kenyatta, first president of Kenya, from an Independence Day message to the people, as quoted in Sanford Ungar's Africa, the People and Politics of an Emerging Continent, New York, 1985.

"To .. all the dispossessed youth of Africa: for perpetuation of communion with ancestral spirits through the fight for African freedom, and in the firm faith that the dead, the living, and the unborn will unite to rebuild the destroyed shrines."
Jomo Kenyatta, first president of Kenya, from the dedication in his book Facing Mount Kenya, 1938.

"Don't be fooled into looking to Communism for food."
Jomo Kenyatta, first president of Kenya, as quoted in David Lamb's The Africans, New York, 1985.

"Our children may learn about the heroes of the past. Our task is to make ourselves the architects of the future."
Jomo Kenyatta, first president of Kenya, from an address given on Kenyatta Day, as quoted in Anita King's Quotations in Black, Greenwood Press 1981.

"Where there has been racial hatred, it must be ended. Where there has been tribal animosity, it will be finished. Let us not dwell upon the bitterness of the past. I would rather look to the future, to the good new Kenya, not to the bad old days. If we can create this sense of national direction and identity, we shall have gone a long way to solving our economic problems."
Jomo Kenyatta, first president of Kenya, as quoted in David Lamb's The Africans, New York, 1985.

"Many people may think that, now there is Uhuru, now I can see the sun of Freedom shinning, richness will pour down like manna from Heaven. I tell you there will be nothing from Heaven. We must all work hard, with our hands, to save ourselves from poverty, ignorance, and disease."
Jomo Kenyatta, first president of Kenya, from an Independence Day message to the people, as quoted in Sanford Ungar's Africa, the People and Politics of an Emerging Continent, New York, 1985.

"If we respect ourselves and our uhuru, foreign investment will pour in and we will prosper."
Jomo Kenyatta, first president of Kenya, as quoted in Phyllis Martin and Patrick O'Meara's Africa, Indiana University Press 1986.

"We do not want to oust the Europeans from this country. But what we demand is to be treated like the white races. If we are to live here in peace and happiness, racial discrimination must be abolished."
Jomo Kenyatta, first president of Kenya, as quoted in David Lamb's The Africans, New York, 1985.

"God said this is our land, land in which we flourish as people... we want our cattle to get fat on our land so that our children grow up in prosperity; and we do not want the fat removed to feed others."
Jomo Kenyatta, Kenyan president, from a speech given in Nyeri, Kenya, 26 July 1952.

"I have no intention of retaliating or looking backwards. We are going to forget the past and look forward to the future" 
Virginia Morell, Ancestral Passions: The Leakey Family and the Quest for Humankind's Beginnings (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995).

"The basis of any independent government is a national language, and we can no longer continue aping our former colonizers … those who feel they cannot do without English can as well pack up and go" (1974).

"Some people try deliberately to exploit the colonial hangover for their own purpose, to serve an external force. To us, Communism is as bad as imperialism" (1964).

"Don't be fooled into turning to Communism looking for food."

Haile Selassie Quotes

Haile Selassie

1892 - 1975

"A purely materialistic art would be like a tree which is expected to bear fruit without flowering and to sacrifice grace and beauty for mere utility"
"A well informed public opinion is essential to the growth of political and social awareness. Only he who is informed can comment intelligently on his nation's development and only by such comments can errors be corrected and progress stimulated"
"All well ordered and modern states can only base themselves upon Courts of Justice and Conduct of Laws which are just, correct and geared towards the protection of the rights of individuals. Justice is a product of education."
"Any who may wish to profit himself alone from the knowledge given him, rather than serve others through the knowledge he has gained from learning, is betraying knowledge and rendering it worthless"
"As man's faculty attains higher level of development and sophistication, so do his wants in life"
"Democracy, Republic: What do these words signify? What have they changed in the world? Have men become better, more loyal, kinder? Are the people happier? All goes on as before, as always. Illusions, illusions"
"Education develops the intellect; and the intellect distinguishes man from other creatures. It is education that enables man to harness nature and utilize her resources for the well-being and improvement of his life"
"Every labourer is a father, his labour is his child. Choose your project carefully and achieve it worthily"
"He who would be a leader must pay the price in self-discipline and moral restraints. This details the correction and improvement of his personal character, the checking of passions and desires and an exemplary control of one's bodily needs and desires"
"If each and everyone endeavours to cooperate and work in as much as his capacity permits, our faith rests upon the Almighty God that he would bless the results for us"
"It is both the duty and responsibility of the world's fortunate few to help fulfil the legitimate aspirations of the unfortunate many"
"It is much easier to show compassions to animals. They are never wicked."
"Leadership does not mean domination. The world is always well supplied with people who wish to rule and dominate others"
"Life is like the theatre - One mustn't try to understand it all at once and immediately. It is no longer amusing."
"Observe that anyone who dies for his country is a fortunate man, but death takes what it wants, indiscriminately, in peace-time as well as in war. It is better to die with freedom than without it."
"Planning is the basis of the rational and sustained use of capital, manpower and time in the acceleration of economic development"
"That which man dreams of and to Which he aspires, unless fulfilled in his own lifetime, can produce no actual satisfaction to him. It will be self deceiving and a waste of time to advocate dialogue with those who are not ready to listen, because it is obvious that the freedom of millions is not a commodity subject to bargaining. It is better to die free than to live as slaves. "
"The art of leadership is in the ability to make people want to work for you, while they are really under no obligation to do so. Leaders are people, who raise the standards by which they judge themselves and by which they are willing to be judged. The goal chosen, the objective selected, the requirements imposed, are not mainly for their followers alone. They develop with consumate energy and devotion, their own skill and knowledge in order to reach the standard they themselves have set"
"The true leader is a different sort; he seeks effective activity which has a truly beneficient purpose. He inspires others to follow in his wake, and holding aloft the torch of wisdom, leads the way for society to realize its genuinely great aspirations"
"The ultimate resource of a nation is its people. Unless this resource is employed for the benefit of the nation, unless the latent good which it represents is exploited to the maximum for the common good the nation will languish, poor in spirit, lacking in achievernent"
"There are good men and wicked. The former should be made use of and the latter punished, without attempting to understand why the ones are good and the others wicked."
"There is always something moving, brewing. There are ambitious people everywhere. Wicked people. The only thing to do is to deal with them with courage and decision. One must beware of uncertainty, weakness or conflicting emotions - they lead to defeat"
"There is nothing as precious to man as a sound mind in a sound body and it is essential that the physical well being of our people merits as much attention as its spiritual welfare"
"Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph."
"We believe in the peaceful settlement of all disputes without resorting to force" A selection of quotes from Nelson Mandela “As long as many of our people still live in utter poverty, as long as children still live under plastic covers, as long as many of our people are still without jobs, no South African should rest and wallow in the joy of freedom.” “It is not our diversity which divides us; it is not our ethnicity, or religion or culture that divides us. Since we have achieved our freedom, there can only be one division amongst us: between those who cherish democracy and those who do not.” “We were expected to destroy one another and ourselves collectively in the worst racial conflagration. Instead, we as a people chose the path of negotiation, compromise and peaceful settlement. Instead of hatred and revenge we chose reconciliation and nation-building.” “Why is it that in this courtroom I face a white magistrate, am confronted by a white prosecutor and escorted into the dock by a white orderly? Can anyone honestly and seriously suggest that in this type of atmosphere the scales of justice are evenly balanced?” “Physical suffering is nothing compared to the trampling down of those tender bonds that form the basis of the institution of marriage and the family that unite man and wife.” “I have often wondered whether a person is justified in neglecting his own family to fight for opportunities for others.” “During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.” “Home is home even for those who aspire to serve wider interests and who have established their home of choice in distant regions.” “We used to sing and dance and fully enjoyed the perfect freedom we seemed to have far away from the old people. After supper we would listen enthralled to my mother and sometimes my aunt telling us stories, legends, myths and fables which have come down from countless generations, and all of which tended to stimulate the imagination and contained some valuable moral lesson. As I look back to those days I am inclined to believe that the type of life I led at my home, my experiences in the veld where we worked and played together in groups, introduced me at an early age to the ideas of collective effort.” “Ndiwelimilambo enamagama – I have crossed famous rivers” “In our language there is a saying Ndiwelimilambo enamagama – I have crossed famous rivers. It means that one has travelled and, in the process, gained much experience. Indeed I had since 1934 been crossing important rivers of my country: Mbashe, Great Kei, Orange and the Vaal. I had seen new places and new faces, absorbed new ideas and renounced old ones.” “We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road.” “The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road. For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning.”  "Difficulties break some men but make others. No axe is sharp enough to cut the soul of a sinner who keeps on trying, one armed with the hope that he will rise even in the end." "It always seems impossible until it's done."  "If I had my time over I would do the same again. So would any man who dares call himself a man."  "I like friends who have independent minds because they tend to make you see problems from all angles."  "Real leaders must be ready to sacrifice all for the freedom of their people."  "A fundamental concern for others in our individual and community lives would go a long way in making the world the better place we so passionately dreamt of."  "Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do."  "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."  "I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."  "For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others."  "Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies."  "Lead from the back — and let others believe they are in front."  "Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again."  "I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have fought it all during my life; I fight it now, and will do so until the end of my days."  "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination."