Being the first black Nobel laureate, and the first African, the African world considered me personal property. I lost the remaining shreds of my anonymity, even to walk a few yards in London, Paris or Frankfurt without being stopped.

Governance can dig itself into a huge hole and not even know it's in there.

African film makers are scraping by on a mere pittance.

We all have our individual artistic temperaments as well as partisanships in creative directions. And we have strong opinions on the merits of the products of our occupation.

The greatest threat to freedom is the absence of criticism.

My definition of slavery is the deprivation of human volition, any form of relationship between two peoples which is based on the deprivation of volition of one side.

The media must be used effectively to reach the masses. You have to find a new language in which to address the people and demonstrate what is possible.