“Once an interesting idea or theme occurs to me then I would want to write a poem about it. The rest, frankly, is not difficult.”

There are powerful forces undermining progress in Africa. But one must never underestimate the power of the people to bring about change.

O yes, everyone gets lonely some time or other.

No matter what anybody says, we can’t have it all. Not if you are a woman. Not yet.

Politicians are easy to attack, but frankly, we are all guilty of not meeting the needs of Africa’s young people properly.

Sometimes a word or an argument will trigger a poem.

Ghana is like a lion without a head

At the age of 15, a teacher had asked me what I wanted to do for a career, and without knowing why or even how I replied that I wanted to be a poet.

Things are working out… towards their dazzling conclusions.

Humans, not places, make memories.

Once in a while I catch myself wondering whether I would have found the courage to write if I had not started to write when I was too young to know what was good for me.

Love is fine for singing about and love songs are good to listen to, sometimes even to dance to. But when we need food for our stomachs and clothes for our backs, love is nothing. Ah my lady, the last man any woman should think of marrying is the man she loves.

The very old certainly do not go back on lunch remains but they do bite back at old conversational topics.

After all, if we look closer into ourselves, shall we not admit that the warmth from other people comes so sweet to us when it comes, because, we always carry with us the knowledge of the cold loneliness of death?

the best way to sharpen a knife is not to whet one side of it only. And neither can you solve a riddle by considering only one end of it.

People are worms, and even the God who created them is immensely bored with their antics.

Toyin Falola has given us what is truly rare in modern African writing: a seriously funny, racy, irreverent package of memories, and full of the most wonderful pieces of poetry and ordinary information.

Nobody’s irreplaceable, including me. I think for too long we’ve had a cult of personality in this company and in this industry, and frankly, I’d like to see that diminish.

Frankly, the gay movement on the ground has been one of the great propulsive things that has made politicians do what they do.

I’m writing this book right now called Pallin’ Around, and the subtitle is: “Talking to the Tea Party.” And frankly I find talking to the Tea Party exhilarating, I love it.

[Grew up in Hawaii] that gave [Barack Obama] a kind of optimism, an ability to see things, you know, and frankly, an ability to trust, you know, in his fellow, you know, white countrymen in a way that I, for instance, you know, and the vast majority of black people I know never really could.

I value my garden more for being full of blackbirds than of cherries, and very frankly give them fruit for their songs.

I dreamed of any medal, but frankly speaking, I wanted a gold one.

Yeah! I think listeners groove on that because frankly, it’s genuine.

Frankly I have much more faith in what they posted than what they say during the course of an interview.