Binyavanga Wainaina Quotes
There is no country in the world with the diversity, confidence and talent and black pride like Nigeria.
Quotes to Explore
-
From the day of its birth, the anomaly of slavery plagued a nation which asserted the equality of all men, and sought to derive powers of government from the consent of the governed. Within sound of the voices of those who said this lived more than half a million black slaves, forming nearly one-fifth of the population of a new nation.
-
Because of where I come from, I never thought I'd see in my life a black candidate running for President.
-
White Americans today don't know what in the world to do because when they put us behind them, that's where they made their mistake... they put us behind them, and we watched every move they made.
-
There is no such thing as a little country. The greatness of a people is no more determined by their numbers than the greatness of a man is by his height.
-
I do find my speech difficult at times, but it's getting so much better as my confidence grows and that's thanks to the position I'm now in, which is totally due to my fans.
-
I come from a world where you get the film done, that's a success.
-
Roosevelt was the one who had the vision to change our policy from isolationism to world leadership. That was a terrific revolution. Our country's never been the same since.
-
Shoes are very emotional. For women, they carry the message that you want to give to the world. One day you want to be sexy, or super powerful at your job - you wear a great pump. If you want to be on-the-go and running after your kids - you wear a great flat.
-
Whenever you hear a man speak of his love for his country, it is a sign that he expects to be paid for it.
-
We've only been wealthy in this country for 70 years. Who said we ought to have all this? Is it ordained?
-
I think fractures in your childhood make you observe the world more as an outsider. Possibly it pushes you outside.
-
We hunger to understand, so we invent myths about how we imagine the world is constructed - and they're, of course, based upon what we know, which is ourselves and other animals. So we make up stories about how the world was hatched from a cosmic egg or created after the mating of cosmic deities or by some fiat of a powerful being.
-
It's a crazy world, so sports and athletics and music can be a form of escapism.
-
You need a director, a script, and a role to justify a risk.
-
People think that their world will get smaller as they get older. My experience is just the opposite. Your senses become more acute. You start to blossom.
-
I know my football. And I adore football players. The crashing noise of a tackle, the huddle grunting, and the roar of the crowd are music to my ears.
-
I was frustrated for a long time with my colleagues in the business school world and with so many management authors who didn't really see themselves as innovators. They were glorified journalists.
-
Diversity and inclusion are always something industries should strive for.
-
Now the master paid a number of visits to England and, as a Cambridge man, it is a source of pride that he taught there for a longer period than elsewhere in my country.
-
I believe that if we could see the chapters that are missing from the book [The Autobiography of Malcolm X], we would gain an understanding as to why perhaps - perhaps - the F.B.I., the C.I.A., the New York Police Department and others in law enforcement greatly feared what Malcolm X was about, because he was trying to build a broad - an unprecedented black coalition across the lines of black nationalism and integration. And in way, it presages 30 years ahead of time, the Million Man March.
-
I was convinced in middle school that I invented tight-rolling your pants, because I would get hand-me-downs from my brothers, and of course they were bell-bottoms from the '70s. So I would fold and fold over the bells. I like to think I started the trend. But I didn't.
-
You are the sum total of everything you've ever seen, heard, eaten, smelled, been told, forgot - it's all there. Everything influences each of us, and because of that I try to make sure that my experiences are positive.
-
There is no country in the world with the diversity, confidence and talent and black pride like Nigeria.
