Quotes by Tanzanian Authors

No matter what justification you have for your feelings, you cannot wish harmful things on others.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Sex to me is not luxury any more. It is necessity of reproduction.
Enock Maregesi
If you are smart be simple. If you are powerful be generous. If you are rich be humble. If you want to be smart be simple. If you want to be powerful be generous. If you want to be rich be humble.
Enock Maregesi
Develop your soul into independence!
Enock Maregesi
It's not a concert you are seeing, it's a fashion show.
Freddie Mercury
Read non-interesting books!
Enock Maregesi
No matter how talented or skilled you are, you will never reach your full potential without expert guidance.
Enock Maregesi
Writing as a creative art flourishes only when there are no rules. Rules stifle you from entering the silent and forbidden spaces where the core of the story is waiting to be revealed.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
To be able to influence Tanzanian literature and African literature, and sell our books in Tanzania as well as in our continent, we need to be committed to what we do. And what we do is writing. Write as much as you can. Read as much as you can. Use the library and the internet carefully for research and talk to people, about things that matter. To make a living from writing, and make people read again in Tanzania and Africa; we must write very well, very good stories.
Enock Maregesi
As a writer, the main skill you need is curiosity. As a reader, the main tool you need is open-mindedness.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Did you ever ask yourself if each one of us pursued a high educational degree, who would do the skilled manual work? Craftsmanship may not earn us the money we want but that does not mean we should scorn on anyone doing it. We are obliged to be respectful and grateful to anyone using their hands to clean our households, trim our hedges,carpentry our furniture, farm our food, crafts the objects we collect and gift, style our hairs, etc. Next time you encounter a crafts person acknowledge their manual competence.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Gender is not only women and sexual orientation has multiple choices.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Live as you were created to live.
Enock Maregesi
That's the way life takes us,' Elleke once said. 'It takes us like this, then it turns us over and takes us like that.' What she didn't say was that through it all we manage to cling to something that makes sense.
Abdulrazak Gurnah
An Indian child is brought up in England, and he will speak both English and Hindi very well. English in school and Hindi at home. But here it’s English both in schools and at home. Why can’t you speak Swahili with your child at home? If this continues we will turn into an English speaking country.
Enock Maregesi
Home is where the heart unveils.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
A badly written novel can always be shortened to a poem.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Poetry rhymes, a song our souls need to nourish upon. Poetry is a drum, a sound our bodies wish to have. Poetry is organized, a reading our eyes wish to view. Poetry is refined, a structure our moral selves seek. Poetry is civil, instigating the world to remain sane. Poetry is not ordinary, but it needs the ordinary eyes to continue to be the interesting art form of expression. Poetry is like a child communicating, who later grows to be an adult communicating in prose.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Poetry is –raw feelings as sunny summer,fiery turmoil as vibrant autumn,daunting revelation as stormy winter,intrepid hope as blooming spring.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Poetry is not difficult. If you possess one of the five senses, poetry is in it. If you can compose text message, tweet or Facebook status, you can write poetry. If you can rap a song, you can rhyme poetry. If you can memorise a prayer, you can recite poetry. If you struggle to make sense of formatted text, poetry is your call.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Poetry is not for poets, poetry lovers or perceived poetic persons only. Poetry is in yourself, others and everything of nature and man-made.Poetry may not be a solution, yet it can reveal or ease challenges faced.Poetry is capable of affecting any heart.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Dictatorial government is more dangerous than lions!
Enock Maregesi
Those trying moments teach us to desire greatness in ourselves and wider humanity.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
People think that other international languages are smarter and more business wise. But they have to understand that we have to preserve our culture.
Enock Maregesi
Writing is a lonely business, which if allowed publicity and socializing it might deteriorate. Supportive people understand the need of a writer to withdraw to the solitude of oneself.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
To inspire is revealing the unpolished bits before perfection.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
People speak broken Swahili on purpose. Business people for instance will speak Sheng – a mixture of Swahili and English – because that’s what people want to hear. And what is the government doing? They speak broken Swahili most of the time. Swahili is getting lost and I am really sorry for the future generations.
Enock Maregesi
The demons you need to get rid of are inside. But they seem out there because you left the window open.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
I have written all the 406 pages of my book in Swahili words. Even the countries are in Swahili. Instead of 'Nigeria', for example, I have written 'Nijeria'. That is how it is written in the Swahili dictionary. This can seem as a minor detail and that people may find my mission close to ridiculous! However, single letters and commas matter.
Enock Maregesi
To be a woman is not a weakness.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
She is a woman, how can you confuse her for a man?
Gloria D. Gonsalves
We should all celebrate the magnitude of diverse and unique souls that live in our world today, for it is an essence that makes our lives colourful every singleday.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Many years ago, I left my home country very narrow minded. Today I return with an educated mind, able to understand why my culture is as it is and still be very proud of it.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
I am also open minded to embrace strange notions and respect its bearers without harsh judgement. Exposure has made me feel confident and wiser to choose what feels right for me, in order to be the best human being for myself and others.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Being able to experience and live the differences with sound judgement offers a chance to opt for what is right for one.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Do not fear to find yourself among strangers.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
What might be considered loyalty in onesociety might not necessarily be the same for another.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Life at home is at a pace which allows you to appreciate what it has to offer. Simultaneously you get a chance to reflect on what you wish from it. Our development also goes at the same pace, which is not something that everyone appreciates.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Then I learnt of “white Christmas”, which again I found very peculiar since we always have a white Christmas at home for it never passes by without eating rice. That is our white Christmas.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Drooling over an African figure that I could never have, I feasted my eyes uponthe swaying mounds of my fellow African sisters.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
What are the lessons intended in the stories we tell to our children today?
Gloria D. Gonsalves
I was taught how to walk but I did not master the cheating steps of others.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
She refuses to support the slogan - Men are equal to women - if this translates to her femininity being faded out or confused by trying to please a selfish idea of anyone wanting a woman to be both herself and a man.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
The joy of comradeship in this foreign land has been killed by silence and overprotection of personal space. I miss the chaos around me for it makes me realise that I am amidst life and alive.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
My lips swelled with red freshness, my chest heaved proudly with a pair of pointed African drums, my face tempted with its sweetness like Kilimanjaro waters and my height spoke a language only a Maasai warrior knew.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Right now in this world, a child is dying from an ailment because its family cannot afford to buy charcoal for boiling water.Right now in this world, a girl is striving to find firewood from trees that no more exist, and water from sources that are poisonous.Right now in this world, a boy is out fishing in a lake rich with inedible species.Right now in this world, a mother is drowning in heavy rainfall, to save her belongings.Right now in this world, a man has lost his dignity because all his eff orts to save have been wiped away to poverty by unforeseen calamities.Right now in this world, a family is starving because drought has invaded their once fertile land.Right now in this world, a nation is planning for refugee status due to adverse climate conditions.Right now in this world, you have a choice to help alleviate environmental problems caused by humankind.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
May the economic discrimination you impose on your own people bloat your mind. That polluted rubbish occupyingyour mind-set needs to be swept clean. May the disgusted look you impose on those you judge poor burn your eyes.That evil look occupying your clear vision needs to land in the bin. May that shameful attitude you impose on those you wish to feel lesser bring your soul to restlessness. That fake character you display needs to be thrown out of the window.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Everyone these days is concerned so much with privacy and forgets the value of human touch. We still need each other but are scared of how it might sound or appear to the other.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Have you ever entered a kitchen to find a woman, her legs crossed while the rest of her body is dressed in colourful khanga, smiling at you while her hands are making a melodious song with a coconut grater? Have you ever wondered how any woman size can fit on that grater regardless of their body size? The time for wondering is over. East Africa heartily welcomes you to see for yourself. Go and visit it.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
May you grow to be a fearless and proud accepting-self human.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
You will experience a lot of imaginings as usually is for humans although we tend to pretend that all our thoughts are septic and moral. Feelcomfortable with your thoughts. Trust me dear child, no human is spared from wild thoughts and you too will have them. Nothing should limit you my child. But the minute you decide to speak out your thinking or live them, you should be ready for the consequences too.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
At times we are the worst racist enemies of our black selves.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
If a lion can growl, why shouldn’t a man cry?
Gloria D. Gonsalves
A foolish mind would not raise an eyebrow when things are done diff erently in a foreign culture. An educated mind would try to understand the meaning of it all.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
I refuse to behave fraudulently, as if I was anything else but African.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
One should use well a mouth for someone will remember your words and the manner they were spoken. One should pose well in a body for someone will remember your image and how you carried it. One should serve well for someone will recall the kindness and spread it among humanity.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
The moment of honouring our humanity is now.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
There is a pleasure a bee takes in collecting nectar and piling it into a hive. It knows well that the chores involved in such a task will yield sweet results.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
Then I saw his kind eyes, a comfort I desired. Then I saw his height, a knight I needed by my side. Then I saw his body, a man I surrendered to.
Gloria D. Gonsalves
To eat Ugali is an art of adventure in itself. Forget cutlery because all you need is your lovely fingers.
Gloria D. Gonsalves