Oil on Water Quotes

“You must take a year off, one of these days, before you’re old and tired and weighed down by responsibility. Go away somewhere, and read. Read all the important books. Educate yourself, then you’ll see the world in a different way.”
― Helon Habila, Oil on Water

“So your question, are we happy here? I say how can we be happy when we are mere wanderers without a home?”
― Helon Habila, Oil on Water

“Nostalgia settled on my shoulders like the arm of a long-lost friend, urging me to look back and listen; it had been years since I heard such morning sounds, such silence.”
― Helon Habila, Oil on Water

“Family is worth clinging to wherever one can find it.”
― Helon Habila, Oil on Water

“-I've seen children snatched away from their mothers, never to be reunited. I've seen husbands taken from their wives and kids and sent away to prison. I've seen grown men flogged by soldiers in front of their kids. That's how history is made, and it's our job to witness it.
- And is it always like this?
- No, not always. I've also witnessed ordinary bystanders pull passengers from burning cars, I've seen judges sentence generals and politicians to hard labour, without fear. I've seen students stand up to soldiers and policemen, protesting against injustice. If you're patient, you'll see those moments too, and you'll write about them.”
― Helon Habila, Oil on Water

“Our job is to find out the truth, even if it is buried deep in the earth.”
― Helon Habila, Oil on Water

“The further from home you wander, the closer you get to Siberia.”
― Helon Habila, Oil on Water

“Can you continue to love a person regardless of such shortcomings? Maybe because you hope to save them? Or because you can't help it? Isn't that what love is all about?”
― Helon Habila, Oil on Water