I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have fought it all during my life; I fight it now, and will do so until the end of my days.

I was not a messiah, but an ordinary man who had become a leader because of extraordinary circumstances.

When we read we are able to travel to many places, meet many people and understand the world.

Know your enemy - and learn about his favorite sport.

Therefore, we must not look at the African people, even before they met whites, as if they had something unique, which was not to be found in other societies.

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere.

Ethiopia always has a special place in my imagination and the prospect of visiting Ethiopia attracted me more strongly than a trip to France, England, and America combined. I felt I would be visiting my own genesis, unearthing the roots of what made me an African.