The Shadow of the Sun Quotes

“We are here among people who don't contemplate transience and the existence of the soul, the meaning of life and the nature of being. We are in a world in which man, crawling on the earth, tries to dig a few grains of wheat out of the mud just to survive another day.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“People are not hungry because there is no food in the world. There is plenty of it; there is a surplus in fact. But between those who want to eat and the bursting warehouses stands a tall obstacle indeed: politics.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“Our world, seemingly global, is in reality a planet of thousands of the most varied and never intersecting provinces. A trip around the world is a journey from backwater to backwater, each of which considers itself, in its isolation, a shining star. For most people, the real world ends on the threshold of their house, at the edge of their village, or, at the very most, on the border of their valley. That, which is beyond is unreal, unimportant, and even useless, whereas that which we have at our fingertips, in our field of vision, expands until it seems an entire universe, overshadowing all else. Often, the native and the newcomer have difficulty finding a common language, because each looks at the same place through a different lens. The newcomer has a wide-angle lens, which gives him a distant diminished view, although with a long horizon line, while the local always employs a telescopic lens that magnifies the slightest detail.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“Nothing creates a bond between people in Africa more quickly than shaed laughter".”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“When World War II erupted, colonialism was at its apogee. The courde of the war, however, its symbolic undertones, would sow the seeds of the system's defeat and demise. [...] The central subject, the essence, the core relations between Europeans and Africans during the colonial era, was the difference of race, of skin color. Everything-each eaxchange, connection, conflict-was translated into the language of black and white. [...] Into the African was inculcated the notion that the white man was untouchable, unconquerable, that whites constitute a homogenous, cohesive force. [...] Then, suddenly, Africans recruited into the British and French armies in Europe observed that the white men were fighting one another, shooting one another, destroying one another's cities. It was revelation, a surprise, a shock.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“Only with the greatest of simplifications, for the sake of convenience, can we say Africa. In reality, except as a geographical term, Africa doesn't exist.”
― Ryszard Kapusciński, The Shadow of the Sun

“Here is an oral tradition, legends passed from mouth to mouth, a communal myth created invariably at the base of the mango tree in the evening's profound darkness, in which only the trembling voices of old men resound, because the women and children are silent, raptly listening. That is what the evening hour is so important: it is the time when the community contemplates what it is and whence it came.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“Inaczej pojmują czas miejscowi, Afrykańczycy. Dla nich czas jest kategorią dużo bardziej luźną, otwartą, elastyczną, subiektywną. To człowiek ma wpływ na kształtowanie czasu, na jego przebieg i rytm (oczywiście, człowiek działający za zgodą przodków i bogów). Czas jest nawet czymś, co człowiek może tworzyć, bo np. istnienie czasu wyraża się poprzez wydarzenia, a to, czy wydarzenie ma miejsce czy nie, zależy przecież od człowieka. Jeżeli dwie armie nie stoczą bitwy, to bitwa ta nie będzie miała miejsca (tzn. czas nie przejawi swojej obecności, nie zaistnieje). Czas pojawia się w wyniku naszego działania, a znika, kiedy go zaniechamy albo w ogóle nie podejmiemy. Jest to materia, która pod naszym wpływem może zawsze ożyć, ale popadnie w stan hibernacji i nawet niebytu, jeżeli nie udzielimy jej naszej energii. Czas jest istnością bierną, pasywną i przede wszystkim – zależną od człowieka. Całkowita odwrotność myślenia europejskiego. W przełożeniu na sytuacje praktyczne oznacza to, że jeżeli pojedziemy na wieś, gdzie miało po południu odbyć się zebranie, a na miejscu zebrania nie ma nikogo, bezsensowne jest pytanie: „Kiedy będzie zebranie?”. Bo odpowiedź jest z góry wiadoma: „Wtedy, kiedy zbiorą się ludzie”.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“Herein lies the attractiveness of ethnic agitation: its ease and accessibility. The Other is visible, everyone can recognize and remember his image. One doesn’t have to read books, think, discuss: it is enough just to look.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life

“The unschooled European mind, inclined to rational reduction, to pigeonholing and simplification, readily pushes everything African into a single bag and is content with facile stereotypes.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“Vendors still shivering in the still-cool air gathered around me, pushing their wares-chewing gum, biscuits, baby rattles, cigarettes, sold individually or by the pack. I didn't want anything, but they kept standing there; they had nothing else to do. A white man is such an anomaly, a foundling from another planet, that is it possible to stare at him with interest almost forever.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“The richness of every European language is a richness in ability to describe its own culture, represent its own world. When it ventures to do the same for another culture, however, it betrays its limitations, underdevelopment, semantic weakness.”
― KAPUSCINSKI RYSZARD, The Shadow of the Sun

“El viaje por el mundo es un peregrinar de una provincia a otra, y cada una de ellas es una estrella solitaria que brilla sólo para sí misma. Para la mayoría de la gente que vive allí, el mundo real se acaba en el umbral de su casa, en el límite de su aldea o, todo lo más, en la frontera de su valle. El mundo situado más allá no es real ni importante, ni tan siquiera necesario, mientras que el que se tiene a mano, el que se abarca con la vista, aumenta ante nuestros ojos hasta alcanzar el tamaño de un cosmos tan inmenso que nos impide ver todo lo demás. Ocurre a menudo que el habitante del lugar y el que llega desde lejos tienen grandes dificultades a la hora de encontrar un lenguaje común, pues cada uno de ellos se sirve de una óptica diferente para mirar el mismo paisaje. El visitante usa un gran angular, que le da una imagen alejada y reducida, y, en contrapartida, una larga línea de horizonte; en tanto que el interlocutor local siempre ha usado un teleobjetivo o incluso un telescopio, que aumenta hasta el detalle lo más insignificante.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“Meantime, the unschooled European mind, inclined to rational reduction, to pigeonholing and simplification, readily pushes everything African into a single bag and is content with facile stereotypes.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“Cada una de las lenguas europeas es rica, solo que su riqueza no se manifiesta sino en la descripción de su propia cultura, en la representación de su propio mundo. Sin embargo, cuando se intenta entrar en territorio de otra cultura, y describirla, la lengua desvela sus límites, su subdesarrollo, su impotencia semántica.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“This is a very difficult terrain,” Father Johan admitted. “These people ask us how many gods there are in our religion, and whether we have a special god for cattle. We explain to them that there is only one god. This disappoints them. Our religion is better, they say; we have a special god who takes care of cattle. After all, cows are the most important thing!”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life

“Time appears as a result of our actions, and vanishes when we neglect or ignore it. It is something that springs into life under our influence, but falls into a state of hibernation, even nonexistence, if we do not direct our energy toward it. It is subservient, passive essence, and most importantly, one dependent on man.

The absolute opposite of time as it is understood in the European worldview.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“Dawn and Dusk - these are the most pleasant hours in Africa. The sun is either not yet scorching, or it is no longer so - it lets you be, lets you live.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“Czas pojawia się w wyniku naszego działania, a znika, kiedy go zaniechamy albo w ogóle nie podejmiemy. Jest to materia, która pod naszym wpływem może zawsze ożyć, ale popadnie w stan hibernacji i nawet niebytu, jeżeli nie udzielimy jej naszej energii. Czas jest istnością bierną, pasywną i przede wszystkim – zależną od człowieka.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“Nhưng giờ đây, khi tất cả đã qua, khi tôi và Leo đã đứng dậy, bụi đất bắt đầu lắng xuống và rơi ra, tôi nhìn lại một lần nữa dòng máu nhỏ đang thấm đi rất nhanh ấy, thay vì mãn nguyện và vui mừng, tôi cảm thấy trong mình sự trống rỗng, thậm chí còn hơn thế - tôi cảm thấy buồn, vì trái tim nằm dưới tận đáy sâu của cái địa ngục mà mới đây thôi, tất cả chúng tôi vừa cùng có mặt trong một sự ngẫu nhiên kì quặc, trái tim ấy đã ngừng đập.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, Ébano

“More than anything, one is struck by the light. Light everywhere. Brightness everywhere. Everywhere, the sun. Just yesterday, an autumnal London was drenched in rain. The airplane drenched in rain. A cold wind, darkness. But here, from the morning's earliest moments, the airport is ablaze with sunlight, all of us in sunlight.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“But with time I came to understand that seeing a rubbery as a humiliation and an affront is an exmotional luxury".”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“It is strange but true that human life depends on something as fleeting and fragile as shade. That is why the tree, which bestows it, is something greater than just a tree—it is life itself. If lightning strikes its crown and the mango goes up in flames, people here will have nowhere to find shelter from the sun, or to assemble. Without the means to assemble, they will be unable to make any decision, reach any resolution. But above all they will be unable to recount their history, which exists only in the process of being retold during evening gatherings beneath the tree. Because of this they will quickly lose their knowledge about their yesterday, will lose their memory of it. They will become people without history, meaning—they will be nobody. They will lose that which united them, will disperse, each one going off in a separate direction, alone. But solitude is impossible in Africa; a solitary man will not survive a single day, is automatically condemned to death. That is why if a thunderbolt shatters the tree, the people who lived in its shade will also perish. And so it is said: Man cannot survive longer than his shadow.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life

“Me encaminé al barrio hindú. Pero ¿qué podía hacer en él? ¿Adónde ir? ¿Con quién hablar? Además, cuando hace un calor tan insoportable no se puede andar durante mucho rato: no hay con qué respirar, las piernas flaquean y la camisa se empapa en sudor. Después de una hora de semejante vagabundeo uno acaba harto de todo. Sólo queda un anhelo: sentarse en algún sitio, necesariamente a la sombra y a poder ser junto a un ventilador. En momentos como éste uno se plantea si los habitantes del norte se dan cuenta de la gran bendición que supone ese cielo gris, tupido y eternamente encapotado que, a pesar de todo, tiene una virtud maravillosa e inapreciable: que en él no aparece el sol.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“La tradición manda a que toda decisión se tome por unanimidad. Si alguien es de otra opinión, la mayoría tratará de persuadirlo tanto tiempo como haga falta hasta que cambie de parecer. A veces la cosa dura una eternidad, pues un rasgo típico de estas deliberaciones consiste en una palabrería infinita. Si entre dos habitantes de la aldea surge una disputa, el tribunal reunido bajo el árbol no buscará la verdad ni intentará averiguar quien tiene razón, sino que se dedicará, única y exclusivamente, a quitar hierro al conflicto y a llevar a las partes hacia un acuerdo, no sin considerar justas las alegaciones de ambas.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“Today, nothing remains of these gradations. Air travel tears us violently out of snow and cold and hurls us that very same day into the blaze of the tropics.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life

“Only with the greatest simplification, for the sake of convenience, can we say “Africa.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life

“Alone on the earth!" Hamed cries out, and there is a note of terror in his voice, for that is the one thing a Somali cannot imagine: finding himself alone in the world.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun

“every evil thing has its defenders, because everywhere there are those whom evil sustains, for whom it is an opportunity, life itself.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life

“We are in a world in which misery condemns some to death and transforms others into monsters. The former are the victims, the latter are the executioners. There is no one else.”
― Ryszard Kapuściński, The Shadow of the Sun: My African Life