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Bessie Head Quotes

I am building a stairway to the stars. I have the authority to take the whole of mankind up there with me. That is why I write.

I am building a stairway to the stars. I have the authority to take the whole of mankind up there with me. That is why I write.

Bessie Head
Stars, Writing, Building

People with really weak characters cause an immense amount of suffering in the world. They destroy whole civilisations.

Bessie Head
Character, People, Suffering
Bessie Head, Randolph Vigne (1991). “A gesture of belonging: letters from Bessie Head, 1965-1979”, Heinemann

I write because I have authority from life to do so.

Bessie Head
Writing, Authority

Poverty has a home in Africalike a quiet second skin.It may be the only place on earth where it is worn with unconscious dignity.

Bessie Head
Home, Skins, Earth
1989 Tales of Tenderness and Power.

Love is mutually feeding each other, not one living on another like a ghoul.

Bessie Head
Love Is, Ghouls, Feeding
1973 A Question of Power

A discipline I have observed is an attitude of love and reverence to people.

Bessie Head
Attitude, Discipline, People
Bessie Head (1990). “A Woman Alone: Autobiographical Writings”, African Writers Series

The philosophy of love and peace strangely overlooked who was in possession of the guns. There had been love and peace for some time on the continent of Africa because for all this time black men had been captivated by the doctrines of Christianity. It took them centuries to realize its contradictions. ... perhaps there was no greater crime as yet than all the lies Western civilization had told in the name of Jesus Christ.

Bessie Head
Jesus, Lying, Philosophy

Most people live uncomplicated lives. They have work and quietly rear their children. There is an order and sanity about them that keeps the world going. There is an outer disorder and insanity about my life which makes me a victim. One of the disorders is that they won't give us citizenship here.

Bessie Head
Children, Order, People
Bessie Head, Randolph Vigne (1991). “A gesture of belonging: letters from Bessie Head, 1965-1979”, Heinemann

I might really have gone round the bend. I mean people who get visions and see a gigantic light descend on them from the sky can't be all there but if so I feel mighty happy. If one is happy and cracked it's much better than being unhappy and sane.

Bessie Head
Mean, Light, Sky
Bessie Head, Randolph Vigne (1991). “A gesture of belonging: letters from Bessie Head, 1965-1979”, Heinemann

It seemed to be a makeshift replacement for love, absenting oneself from stifling atmospheres, because love basically was a torrential storm of feeling; it thrived only in partnership with laughing generosity and truthfulness.

Bessie Head
Generosity, Laughing, Feelings

I have often noticed that the need for cash and the production of a masterpiece just don't coincide with me. Money will hit me at a big off-period and genius will hit me in starvation, that is, I often get the money when I don't think I deserve it and have been lolling around for days and days thinking the most abysmal thoughts.

Bessie Head
Thinking, Needs, Genius
Bessie Head, Randolph Vigne (1991). “A gesture of belonging: letters from Bessie Head, 1965-1979”, Heinemann

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