“I believe in, and will to the best of my ability fight for, equal rights and freedom of opinion for everyone, regardless of colour, religion, nationality, orientation – you know the rest.”

I love playing with words and texture.

I, like all artists in Western cultures, am a shaman…come in the guise of a comic…to heal perception by using…’jokes’.

I’m extremely optimistic about rapid transformation and change of things in Africa in general.

I, Binyavanga Wainaina, quite honestly swear I have known I am a homosexual since I was five.

Africa is to be pitied, worshipped or dominated

A stretch of my body would surely stretch as far as the sky. The whole universe poised, and I am the agent of any movement.

All people have dignity. Theres nobody who was born without a soul and a spirit.

I like the idea of readers feeling a familiarity, whether its with Africa or childhood.

People reach an age… where somebody elses platform is no longer yours.

Everywhere I go, I see young people: Confident, forward looking. I have seen them in Lagos, in Rwanda, in the suburbs of London.

If a person wants to be of any use to himself, he better insist on getting his fair share of beauty and pleasure, and if there’s something about the system that’s keeping him from getting his share, then I think he’s well within his rights to fight to change that.

I don’t have fights with actors. In absolute honesty, I’ve never fought with any actor ever.

You never fight your eye when you look at a hole. If it looks one way, play it that way. Don’t make a big deal out of an easy shot.

I think Democrats are right. We fight for the American dream, for the environment, for privacy rights, a woman’s right to choose, a good public education system.

The problems of this world are so gigantic that some are paralysed by their own uncertainty.

The job is never done and every generation has to fight again.

PETA has a proven track record of success. Each victory PETA wins for the animals is a stepping stone upon which we build a more compassionate world for all beings – and we will never give up our fight until all animals are treated with respect and kindness.

To fight evil one must also recognize one’s own responsibility. The values for which we stand must be expressed in the way we think of, and how we deal with, our fellow humans.