Home
Authors
Tags
App
Get QuoteDark Inspirational Quotes App
" When I left South Africa in 1960 I was 20 years old. I wanted to try to get an education, and music education was not available for me in South Africa. "
Hugh Masekela
Africa
Me
Education
Related Quotes:
" Africa has been troubled for a long time - well, the world has been troubled ever since I was born. "
Hugh Masekela
Well
Born
Long Time
" I think the most difficult thing that has had to happen in South Africa for the previously disadvantaged communities is they had to reconcile that the oppressor has been enriched and the establishment is now making five or 10 times more profit than they were during the time the economic embargo was on them. "
Hugh Masekela
Time
Now
Africa
" When I left South Africa there were 10 million people - when I came back there were more than 40 million. I had to learn how to get to the highways because when I left where there were no highways. "
Hugh Masekela
Left
Back
Africa
" I always make the joke that I go home, to one of my homes, to go and do laundry so I can go on the road again. "
Hugh Masekela
Always
Laundry
Go
" I lived for music since I could think. "
Hugh Masekela
Could
Think
Music
" I grew up with protests, marches, demonstrations, struggle. But I come from a clan of community workers. "
Hugh Masekela
Community
Up
Come
" I have a major respect for nature. I'm an environmentalist. "
Hugh Masekela
Respect
Major
Environmentalist
" I've got to where am in life not because of something I brought to the world but through something I found - the wealth of African culture. "
Hugh Masekela
World
Wealth
Through
" It's obvious that the rest of the world loves high African culture - African culture, period. "
Hugh Masekela
Culture
High
Obvious
" Once in a while, I treat myself to a cheesecake or carrot cake. "
Hugh Masekela
Cake
Treat
Carrot
" I don't think what I do is influenced by suffering. I come from a talented people who are prolific in music and dance. "
Hugh Masekela
Dance
Think
Suffering
" I want to see Nelson walking down the streets of South Africa; I want to see him walking hand-in-hand with Winnie Mandela. "
Hugh Masekela
Africa
See
Down
" I've always stood on one fact - that all over the world, there are only two things, the Establishment and the poor people. The poor people are a massive majority and across the world they are exploited in different kinds of ways. The Establishment depends on exploiting raw materials and the poor. "
Hugh Masekela
World
Poor
People
" Twenty years ago, I was part of a movement of millions of people who were going after freedom. But today, they look and they say, 'What are the advantages of freedom?' So far, it's the vote and maybe, in certain places, lack of police harassment. You can live anywhere you want and do anything you want - if you have the means. "
Hugh Masekela
Vote
Live
Freedom
" Not only in Africa but in much of the world, most leaders' pockets are lined by industrial business. And industrial business is never going to stop aiming at profit. "
Hugh Masekela
World
Africa
Business
" Just because Nelson has been released doesn't mean the government has done us any favors. We have nothing to be grateful for. The government destroyed our country, destroyed our people. If anybody needs amnesty, it is the government. "
Hugh Masekela
Grateful
Done
Mean
" To tell you the truth, man, we spend most of the time travelling in hotels, in festivals, in concert halls, clubs, airports. The most unenjoyable part is all the security at airports. "
Hugh Masekela
Time
Security
Concert
" I'm travelling more than ever. I don't have the answer as to why, but the demand seems to have grown as I've got older. "
Hugh Masekela
Older
More
Got
" Mandela was chosen as a symbol of the South African struggle, and he did that great. But I wasn't just happy for him. I was happy for the people. "
Hugh Masekela
He
Great
Happy
" I don't think I have the power to forgive. "
Hugh Masekela
Think
Forgive
Power
" I got possessed by music as an infant. "
Hugh Masekela
Infant
Possessed
Music
" I am a forward-looking person and live in the moment to build for the future. "
Hugh Masekela
Build
Future
I Am
" I think it is incumbent on all human beings to oppose injustice in every form. "
Hugh Masekela
Human
Injustice
Form
" If I don't make heritage visible and the strength of mother tongue important for my grandchildren, it scares me that they might say in 20 years from now, 'Well, it is rumoured that we used to be Africans long ago.' And in many urban areas, it's already happening. "
Hugh Masekela
Mother
Say
Grandchildren
" In my view, Africa's real problems are cultural. "
Hugh Masekela
Cultural
View
Real
" The thing that is being lost is heritage. In Africa, religion and advertisement and television and media hype have gotten Africans to where they are convinced psychologically that their own heritage is heathen, pagan, barbaric, savage, primitive. "
Hugh Masekela
Heritage
Lost
Media
" I just came from South Africa, a place that had been in a perpetual uprising since 1653, so the uprising had become a way of life in our culture and we grew up with rallies and strikes and marches and boycotts. "
Hugh Masekela
Culture
Africa
Way
" For me to want to play the trumpet was a very, very odd thing for my clan as a whole. One of my uncles was a high school principal, and he referred to my trumpet as a bugle, which really hurt me. "
Hugh Masekela
Play
School
Odd
" Watching a Kirk Douglas movie, 'Young Man With A Horn,' made me want to be a trumpet player. "
Hugh Masekela
Young Man
Young
Want
" Whatever you go into, you have to go in there to be the best. There's no formulas. It's all about passion and honesty and hard work. It might look glamorous, but it takes a lot of hard work. The blessing with the arts is that you can do it forever. "
Hugh Masekela
Passion
Hard Work
Best