Our Sister Killjoy Quotes

“But what she also came to know was that someone somewhere would always see in any kind of difference, an excuse to be mean.”
― Ama Ata Aidoo, Our Sister Killjoy

“A dog among the masters, the most masterly of the dogs.”
― Ama Ata Aidoo, Our Sister Killjoy

“Clearly, she was enjoying herself to see that woman hurt. It was nothing she had desired. Nor did it seem as if she could control it, this inhuman sweet sensation to see another human being squirming. It hit her like a stone, the knowledge that there is pleasure in hurting. A strong three-dimensional pleasure, an exclusive masculine delight that is exhilarating beyond all measure. And this too is God's gift to man? She wondered.”
― Ama Ata Aidoo, Our Sister Killjoy

“Yes.
Work is love made visible.”
― Ama Ata Aidoo, Our Sister Killjoy

“From all around the Third World,
You hear the same story;
Rulers
Asleep to all things at
All times -
Conscious only of
Riches, which they gather in a
Coma -
Intravenously

So that
You wouldn't know they were
Feeding if it was not for the
Occasional
Tell-tale trickle somewhere
Around the mouth.
And when they are jolted awake,
They stare about them with
Unseeing eyes, just
Sleepwalkers in a nightmare.”
― Ama Ata Aidoo, Our Sister Killjoy

“And yet, I have not wronged you, have I? Indeed if there is anyone I may have sinned against, it is me. That desiring you as I do, needing you as I do, I still let you go.”
― Ama Ata Aidoo, Our Sister Killjoy

“Sissie could see it all. In her uncertain eyes, on her restless hands and on her lips, which she kept biting all the time.
But oh, her skin. It seemed as if according to the motion of her emotions Marija's skin kept switching on and switching off like a two-colour neon sign. So that watching her against the light of the dying summer sun, Sissie could not help thinking that it must be a pretty dangerous matter, being white. It made you feel awfully exposed, rendered you terribly vulnerable. Like being born without your skin or something. As though the Maker had fashioned the body of a human, stuffed it into a polythene bag instead of the regular protective covering, and turned it loose into the world.

Lord, she wondered, is that why, on the whole, they have had to be extra ferocious? Is it so they could feel safe here on the earth, under the sun, the moon and the stars?”
― Ama Ata Aidoo, Our Sister Killjoy

“One had said, 'You say you come from Ghaanna? Then we have a lot in common!' Sissie didn't know what to do with the statement, uncertain of whether it was a threat or a promise.

'We had chiefs like you,' the Scot went on, 'who fought one another and all, while the Invader marched in.' Sissie thanked her, but also felt strongly that their kinship had better end right there.”
― Ama Ata Aidoo, Our Sister Killjoy

“For instance, it is quite clear now that all of the peoples of the earth have not always wished one another well. Indeed we are certain now, are we not, that so many people have wished us ill. They wish us ill. They have always done. They still do.”
― Ama Ata Aidoo, Our Sister Killjoy

“Sissie knew that she had to stop herself from crying. Why weep for them? In fact, stronger in her was the desire to ask somebody why the entire world has had to pay so much and is still paying so much for some folks' unhappiness.”
― Ama Ata Aidoo, Our Sister Killjoy

“We are victims of our history and our present. They place too many obstacles in the way of love. And we cannot enjoy even our differences in peace.”
― Ama Ata Aidoo, Our Sister Killjoy