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.
AMA ATA AIDOOLove 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.
More Ama Ata Aidoo Quotes
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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.
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There are powerful forces undermining progress in Africa. But one must never underestimate the power of the people to bring about change.
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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.
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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.
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Sometimes a word or an argument will trigger a poem.
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Politicians are easy to attack, but frankly, we are all guilty of not meeting the needs of Africa’s young people properly.
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Life is inspirational; sometimes it comes from the most unlikely places.
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Things are working out… towards their dazzling conclusions.
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The very old certainly do not go back on lunch remains but they do bite back at old conversational topics.
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For us Africans, literature must serve a purpose: to expose, embarrass, and fight corruption and authoritarianism.
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I’ve written poems about gifts.
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It is a matter of some interest, that the only other volume A Mouth Sweeter Than Salt reminds one of is Ake, by Wole Soyinka. What is it about these Yorubas?
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They had always told me that I wrote like a man.
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Humans, not places, make memories.
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I always wanted to write poetry, even when I was very young.
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