Haile Selassie Quotes

The Emperor himself amassed his great riches. The older he grew, the greater became his greed, his pitiable cupidity ... he and his people took millions from the state treasurer and left cemeteries full of people who had died of hunger, cemeteries visible from the windows of the royal palace ~ Haile Selassie

The Ethiopian government's use of the railway from Djibouti to Addis Ababa was, in practice, a hazardous regards transport of arms intended for the Ethiopian forces. ~ Haile Selassie

Feel the needs of others more than your own. ~ Haile Selassie

Africa's mineral wealth is great; we should co-operate in its development. ~ Haile Selassie

We should accept diversity in culture and tradition and coexist peacefully ... ~ Haile Selassie

Throughout history, it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph. ~ Haile Selassie

Education develops the intellect; and the intellect distinguishes man from other creatures. It is education that enables man to harness nature and utilize her resources for the well-being and improvement of his life ~ Haile Selassie

The United Nations continues to sense as the forum where nations whose interests clash may lay their cases before world opinion. ~ Haile Selassie

Imagination, devotion, perseverance, together with divine grace, will assure your success. Knowing that material & spiritual progress are essential to man, we must ceaselessly work for the equal attainment of both. It is only when a people strike an even balance between scientific progress & spiritual & moral advancement that it can be said to possess a wholly perfect and complete personality and not a lopsided one. ~ Haile Selassie

Provision must be made for the extension of speedy and effective assistance when any African State is threatened with military aggression. We cannot rely solely on international morality. ~ Haile Selassie

Let us set our goals too high; let us demand more of ourselves than we believe we possess ~ Haile Selassie

Spiritual power is the eternal guide, in this life and the life after, for man ranks supreme among all creatures. Led forward by spiritual power, man can reach the summit destined for him by the Great Creator. ~ Haile Selassie

The same arts that did gain
A power, must it maintain. ~ Andrew Marvell

We must act to shape and mold the future, and leave our imprint on events as they slip past into history. ~ Haile Selassie

We are for aiding our allies by sharing some of our material blessings with those nations which share in our fundamental beliefs, but we are against doling out money government to government, creating bureaucracy, if not socialism, all over the world. We set out to help 19 countries. We are helping 107 We spent $146 billion. With that money, we bought a 2-million-dollar yacht for Haile Selassie. We bought dress suits for Greek undertakers, extra wives for Kenya government officials. We bought a thousand TV sets for a place where they have no electricity. ~ Ronald Reagan

Your secret behavior will be inherited by your children! If Nelson Mandela was a symbol of reconciliation; then reconciliation is our character. If Kwame Nkrumah was a symbol of unity; then unity is our character. If Patrice Lumumba was a symbol of patriotism; then patriotism is our character. If Robert Mugabe is a symbol of dictatorship; then dictatorship is our character. If Haile Selassie was a symbol of heroism; then heroism is our character. If Samora Machel was a symbol of socialism; then socialism is our character. If Julius Kambarage Nyerere was a symbol of justice; then justice is our character. We are the children of the African patriarchs! They are the fathers of the African nations! We have inherited their secret behaviors. ~ Enock Maregesi

We have finished the job, what shall we do with the tools? ~ Haile Selassie

A well informed public opinion is essential to the growth of political and social awareness. Only he who is informed can comment intelligently on his nation's development and only by such comments can errors be corrected and progress stimulated ~ Haile Selassie

The temple of the most high begins with the body which houses our life, the essence of our existence. Africans are in bondage today because they approach spirituality through religion provided by foreign invaders and conquerors. We must stop confusing religion and spirituality. Religion is a set of rules, regulations and rituals created by humans, which was suppose to help people grow spiritually. Due to human imperfection religion has become corrupt, political, divisive and a tool for power struggle. Spirituality is not theology or ideology. It is simply a way of life, pure and original as was given by the Most High of Creation. Spirituality is a network linking us to the Most High, the universe, and each other… ~ Haile Selassie I

As man's faculty attains higher level of development and sophistication, so do his wants in life ~ Haile Selassie

Any who may wish to profit himself alone from the knowledge given him, rather than serve others through the knowledge he has gained from learning, is betraying knowledge and rendering it worthless ~ Haile Selassie

The Rastafari culture has a very strong connection to Haile Selassie, a descendant of King Solomon. ~ Ziggy Marley

Mahatma Gandhi will always be remembered as long as free men and those who love freedom and justice live. ~ Haile Selassie

Haile Selassie was not an evil man, but his priorities were misplaced. He was so concerned with establishing a strong central government and modernizing the country that he failed to meet the challenge of natural disaster ... It was his false pride, this lack of courage to admit mistakes, that brought about his downfall. ~ Haile Selassie

Here is our opportunity and our challenge. If the nuclear powers are prepared to declare a truce, let us seize the moment to strengthen the institutions and procedures which will serve as the means for the pacific settlement of disputes among men. ~ Haile Selassie

The true leader is a different sort; he seeks effective activity which has a truly beneficient purpose. He inspires others to follow in his wake, and holding aloft the torch of wisdom, leads the way for society to realize its genuinely great aspirations ~ Haile Selassie

There is always something moving, brewing. There are ambitious people everywhere. Wicked people. The only thing to do is to deal with them with courage and decision. One must beware of uncertainty, weakness or conflicting emotions - they lead to defeat ~ Haile Selassie

Many discouraging hours will arise before the rainbow of accomplished goals will appear on the horizon. ~ Haile Selassie

Trip on this! Haile Selassie, who Rastafari regard as God, was possibly greatly influenced by a French poet who although he gave up writing at the age of 20 (which at first glance appears like a huge waste) must certainly have still held an esoteric, otherworldly mind. It can't have just deserted him, can it? Rimbaud had a bewitching and at times ghoulish psyche which managed to explode out of long-established poetic forms while still in his teens. He did it with more rhythm and beauty than almost anyone you care to name. It's extremely likely that ten years later this man had incredible influence on the child who Rastafari were to later think of as God.

An intriguing thought. ~ Karl Wiggins

The Charter of the United Nations expresses the noblest aspirations of man: abjuration of force in the settlement of disputes between states; the assurance of human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language or religion; the safeguarding of international peace and security. ~ Haile Selassie

We are the children of Nelson Mandela; we are the children of Kwame Nkrumah; we are the children of Haile Selassie; we are the children of Samora Machel; we are the children of Robert Mugabe; we are the children of Patrice Lumumba; we are the children of Julius Kambarage Nyerere. We know who we are. ~ Enock Maregesi

Peace demands the united efforts of us all. Who can foresee what spark might ignite the fuse? ~ Haile Selassie

Like twentieth-century Iran, the remnant of the Persian Empire, Ethiopia under Haile Selassie attempted to preserve the absolutist state throught an accommodation with modernizing forces in his own terms without completely subduing traditionalists. This was not a strategy of Haile Selassie's own choosing. Instead, he was overtaken by events and forced to deal with contradictions that were from the very beginning too formidable to be managed in the long term. ~ Haile Selassie

Do not worship me, I am not God. I'm only a man. I worship Jesus Christ. ~ Haile Selassie

Emperor Haile Selassie was certainly a defining figure in both Ethiopian and African history, and as Rastafarians revere Haile Selassie as the returned messiah, it's possible that the routes of Rastafarianism are deep-seated in the Queen of Sheba. Trip on that! A queen who was part Genie, or Djinn, is possibly the focus of Rastafarianism ~ Karl Wiggins

It is much easier to show compassion to animals. They are never wicked. ~ Haile Selassie

No one should question the faith of others, for no human being can judge the ways of God. ~ Haile Selassie

Leadership does not mean domination. The world is always well supplied with people who wish to rule and dominate others ~ Haile Selassie

I used to live in Ethiopia as a child, and I lived there when Haile Selassie was the emperor. ~ Jack Kingston

Democracy, republics: What do these words signify? ~ Haile Selassie

Misguided people sometimes create misguided ideas. Some of my ancestors were Oromo. How can I colonize myself? ~ Haile Selassie

The preservation of peace and the guaranteeing of man's basic freedoms and rights require courage and eternal vigilance: courage to speak and act - and if necessary, to suffer and die - for truth and justice; eternal vigilance, that the least transgression of international morality shall not go undetected and unremedied. ~ Haile Selassie

I have lived too long to cherish many illusions about the essential high-mindedness of men when brought into stark confrontation with the issue of control over their security, and their property interests. ~ Haile Selassie

Man cannot live by bread alone. Man after all is composed of intellect and soul. ~ Haile Selassie

It is important that spiritual advancement must keep pace with material advancement. When this comes to be realized man's journey toward higher and more lasting values will show more marked progress while the evil in him recedes into the background. Knowing that material and spiritual progress are essen- tial to man, we must ceaselessly work for the equal attainment of both. Only then shall we be able to acquire that absolute inner calm so necessary to our well-being. ~ Haile Selassie

Everything Mengistu has done since 1977 has been to place himself in a position of uncontestable power. Neither Haile Selassie nor any of the previous emperors had this insatiable thirst for power. ~ Mengistu Haile Mariam

A house built on granite and strong foundations, not even the onslaught of pouring rain, gushing torrents and strong winds will be able to pull down. Some people have written the story of my life representing as truth what in fact derives from ignorance, error or envy; but they cannot shake the truth from its place, even if they attempt to make others believe it. ~ Haile Selassie

When the facts of history are written Haile Selassie of Abyssinia will go down as a great coward who ran away from his country to save his skin and left the millions of his countrymen to
struggle through a terrible war that he brought upon them because of his political ignorance and his racial disloyalty. ~ Marcus Garvey

Knowledge is power. If it is not applied properly to create, let there be no doubts, it will destroy. ~ Haile Selassie

Place principle above all else. ~ Haile Selassie

Thousands of years ago, civilizations flourished in Africa which suffer not at all by comparison with those of other continents. In those centuries, Africans were politically free and economically independent. Their social patterns were their own and their cultures truly indigenous. ~ Haile Selassie

If each and everyone endeavours to cooperate and work in as much as his capacity permits, our faith rests upon the Almighty God that he would bless the results for us ~ Haile Selassie

In the mystic traditions of the different religions we have a remarkable unity of spirit. Whatever religion they may profess, they are spiritual kinsmen. While the different religions in their historic forms bind us to limited groups and militate against the development of loyalty to the world community, the mystics have already stood for the fellowship of humanity in harmony with the spirit of the mystics of ages gone by. ~ Haile Selassie

Democracy, Republic: What do these words signify? What have they changed in the world? Have men become better, more loyal, kinder? Are the people happier? All goes on as before, as always. Illusions, illusions ~ Haile Selassie

Today I stand before the world organization which has succeeded to the mantle discarded by its discredited predecessor. ~ Haile Selassie

This world was not created piecemeal. Africa was born no later and no earlier than any other geographical area on this globe. Africans, no more and no less than other men, possess all human attributes, talents and deficiencies, virtues and faults. ~ Haile Selassie

Do the people of the world not yet realize that by fighting on until the bitter end I am not only performing my sacred duty to my people, but standing guard in the last citadel of collective security? Are they too blind to see that I have my responsibilities to the whole of humanity to face? I must still hold on until my tardy allies appear. And if they never come, then I say prophetically and without bitterness: The West will perish. ~ Haile Selassie

We must make progress slowly so as to preserve the progress we have already made. ~ Haile Selassie

We Africans will fight, if necessary, and we know that we shall win, as we are confident in the victory of good over evil. ~ Haile Selassie I

Everyone, in all walks of life, regardless of his professional occupation should feel concerned and play an active role to solve such problems which affect mankind ... ~ Haile Selassie

Above all, we must avoid the pitfalls of tribalism. If we are divided among ourselves on tribal lines, we open our doors to foreign intervention and its potentially harmful consequences. ~ Haile Selassie

Observe that anyone who dies for his country is a fortunate man, but death takes what it wants, indiscriminately, in peace-time as well as in war. It is better to die with freedom than without it. ~ Haile Selassie

It is not only war that can stop war but men of goodwill, conscious of their mission can deal with such deadly enemy ... ~ Haile Selassie

A purely materialistic art would be like a tree which is expected to bear fruit without flowering and to sacrifice grace and beauty for mere utility ~ Haile Selassie

That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned: That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation; That until the color of a man's skin is of no more significance than the color of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained. ~ Haile Selassie

Peace is a day-to-day problem, the product of a multitude of events and judgments. Peace is not an 'is,' it is a 'becoming.' ~ Haile Selassie

You must always remember that to lead, one must first learn to follow ... ~ Haile Selassie

When I wake up at 5 in the morning is it just to jog? Definitely not, I give it all of my efforts. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

When you run the marathon, you run against the distance, not against the other runners and not against the time. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

There's no other way but struggling, forging ahead to do the film. ~ Haile Gerima

I was the kind of child who worked hard every day with the cows and sheep - I was a very aggressive boy. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

At the end of the day, people want to see how fast you run. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

Considering that the race is star-studded no runner will be willing to set the pace for the others. This is why a record will be almost impossible. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

Once you have commitment, you need the discipline and hard work to get you there. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

Mengistu seemed to symbolize the revolution. He was the baria, the slave who overthrew the master, the member of the conquered tribe who got even with the conquerors, the poorly educated son of a servant who rose against the intellectual elite. ~ Mengistu Haile Mariam

I find the business world hard. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

I have seen things few of my countrymen have. The first time I went on an aeroplane I couldn't work out how the lavatories worked up in the sky. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

There are filmmakers like me in different parts of the world that have a story they want to tell, and it's a story that comes out of a certain historical reality within their own life. Then you get committed all the way and however long it takes, stay very committed. ~ Haile Gerima

My school was six miles away from where I lived on the farm. I had to walk and run, there and back every day, through gorges and over rivers. If I was late, there was a very big stick waiting for me. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

Why should I say I will retire in three or four years? You retire the very moment you utter those words. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

I remember in particular my first victory when I achieved a very fast time in what were perfect conditions but since then the wind has always been a factor against me. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

Athletics is in my blood. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

I can't change everything by myself but I can be one of the people who are trying to change the situation. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

I want to go down in history. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

I'm a military man, I did what I did only because my country had to be saved from tribalism and feudalism. If I failed, it was only because I was betrayed. The so-called genocide was nothing more than just a war in defence of the revolution and a system from which all have benefited. ~ Mengistu Haile Mariam

For me, I think [art] exists in a cave. I am in a cave. I have my own editing place, but I'm not powerful enough to amass the resources to keep doing movies every two or three years. ~ Haile Gerima

When I run in Ethiopia, I look out and see eucalyptus trees and rivers. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

You know, I want to help my country. Definitely I can help them, simply by winning races. Sure, they can follow my path to a good career. But for me it is not enough. I want to be more than that. In everything I want to be a role model. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

When was in prison I admired him for his moral strength ...
Of his period in power I can see few results. Apartheid no longer exists, at least to all appearances, but no one understands what the new government in South Africa is doing. ~ Mengistu Haile Mariam

Most young people now are very vulnerable as to what the American film aficionados are going to say. They care too much about a system that has no room for them. It's really a serious issue for me, because to me it's, how do I survive beyond a film that was disgraced or praised? ~ Haile Gerima

To me, entertainment is really the new plantation. It's the new sugar, the new cotton, that black people work for somebody else to be richer than them. ~ Haile Gerima

Success is really when you create a space, a piece of art, and people come in and say, that's my story - when they claim it. ~ Haile Gerima

Love in the Daytime

My lover
Shines like the sun.
I may be burned
Black as a frying pan,
Sweating buckets
And keeling over
With vertigo,
But why worry?
My lover
Shines like the sun.
She pours over my body
And breathes into my soul.
It feels so good
When she lights
My love on fire
Like dry wood.

Translated from Tigrinya by Charles Cantalupo with Ghirmai Negash ~ Reesom Haile

In my life I do a lot of things but I never forget my training. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

If I don't train enough, of course I'm nervous. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

I wanted to be famous. I wanted people to talk about me. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

It is not my duty to spend my money in my country, but it is what I want to do. There is nowhere else I would like to invest. ~ Haile Gebrselassie

For any movement to emerge, it has to be innovatively independent from the mainstream cinema, and I don't see that much. ~ Haile Gerima

I really do not care what the white world is doing. I care about black people building the monument on slavery. ~ Haile Gerima

When you don't work together you can't emerge as a force. It becomes what some call a "lonely struggle" and individual self-destruction. ~ Haile Gerima