Petina Gappah Quotes

Wafa Wanaka, our elders say. Not only does this mean that death is the ultimate peace, it also means that we are not to speak ill of the dead. Once a person has crossed over to the real of the spirits, he takes his transgressions with him, and we speak only of the good. - 'Something Nice from London ~ Petina Gappah

They had become a nation of traders. ~ Petina Gappah

I had never seen so many books gathered in a single space as I saw in that room. I felt less afraid when I thought of all the other people who seemed to have had harder lives than mine. I disappeared completely to occupy the world of whatever book I was reading. ~ Petina Gappah

[L]ife is one big jest at the expense of humanity. -
'The Mupondawana Dancing Champion ~ Petina Gappah

Like the worthless dogs that are his countrymen, my husband believed that his penis was wasted if he was faithful to just one woman. - At the Sound of the Last Post ~ Petina Gappah

It may well be that there will be this socialism, Juliana,' she said, 'but I can tell you right now that no amount of socialism will make my madam was her own underwear.' - 'Aunt Juliana's Indian ~ Petina Gappah

Each heartbreak is a little death, all the same. ~ Petina Gappah

A voice reminds us that the land is ours, it will not be taken from us again; the country will never be a colony again. - 'Something Nice from London ~ Petina Gappah

It will not be possible for me to escape the past. But if I go back there, it will only be to find ways to make rich my present. To accept that there are no villains in my life, just broken people, trying to heal, stumbling in darkness and breaking each other...To stop living what has been, until now, this pale imitation of life. ~ Petina Gappah

There is no happy medium to our food; it is either overcooked or undercooked, or it has too much salt or not enough, or there is not enough oil in the fried vegetables or there is so much that you almost fear that America will invade. ~ Petina Gappah