For me, being in prison writing in an African language was a way of saying: “Even if you put me in prison, I will keep on writing in the language which made you put me in prison.”
NGUGI WA THIONG'OThe Bible affects everybody’s life who is a Christian, from the middle class in Europe to the peasant in Africa and Asia.
More Ngugi wa Thiong'o Quotes
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The Bible affects everybody’s life who is a Christian, from the middle class in Europe to the peasant in Africa and Asia.
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Of course it’s very, very important for me to feel Kenya, to feel, every day, this is where images come from. So to be taken away from that by political pressure or other means – one is taken away from the area, which is the basis of inspiration – is difficult.
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A person who acquires English has access to all the things that that language makes possible.
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The Bible in translation is being read to thousands and thousands in Africa. It is an integral part of their functioning and the way they look at the world.
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What is translated from English and into English – and in what quantities – is a question of power.
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I’m more trying to connect; I’m more listening to people. Whatever I get is very meaningful to me.
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What’s good about writing is that when you write novels or fiction, people can see that the problems in one region are similar to problems in another region.
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Why did Africa let Europe cart away millions of Africa’s souls from the continent to the four corners of the wind?
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If a novel is written in a certain language with certain characters from a particular community and the story is very good or illuminating, then that work is translated into the language of another community.
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Any writer likes to be near the area which is the location of his work.
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If poverty was to be sold three cents today, i can’t buy it.
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Life, struggle, even amidst pain and blood and poverty, seemed beautiful.
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It was a revelation for me, in a practical sense, that you could write in an African language and still reach an audience beyond that language through the art of translation.
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People went to war as a result of it and even today, every Sunday.
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Christianity and Western civilization-what countless crimes have been committed in thy name!
NGUGI WA THIONG'O