The truth is that we are not yet free; we have merely achieved the freedom to be free, the right not to be oppressed. We have not taken the final step of our journey, but the first step on a longer and even more difficult road. For to be free is not merely to cast off one's chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others. The true test of our devotion to freedom is just beginning.

I don't think there is much history can say about me. I just want to be remembered as part of that collective.

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.

The habit of attending to small things and of appreciating small courtesies is one of the important marks of a good person.

We forgive but not forgotten

The brave man is not the one who has no fears, he is the one who triumphs over his fears.

Part of being optimistic is keeping one's head pointed toward the sun, one's feet moving forward.