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Patrice Lumumba
28 quotes
“We who suffered in our bodies and hearts from colonialist oppression, we say to you out loud: from now on, all that is over.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: 30 June 1960, as quoted in The Real Story Behind Patrice Lumumba’s Assassination, Isaac Chotiner, 2023, The New Yorker
“I have never doubted for a single instant that the sacred cause to which my comrades and I have dedicated our entire lives would triumph in the end. But what we wanted for our country—its right to an honorable life, to perfect dignity, to independence with no restrictions—was never wanted by Belgian colonialism and its Western allies.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: As quoted by Stuart A Reid in The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination (2023)
“No one is perfect in this imperfect world.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Without dignity there is no liberty, without justice there is no dignity, and without independence there are no free men.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“A minimum of comfort is necessary for the practice of virtue.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“The Soviet Union is the only great power whose position has reflected the will and wishes of our people. Therefore the Soviet Union proves to be the only great power that has supported the Congolese people in their struggle from the beginning.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I took the money not for myself, but for my political activities, I hurt no private individual, only the Belgian state, which at the time was my worst enemy, it had plunderd us, now i plunderd it.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1690 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The new leaders of Africa Rolf Italiaander, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall 1690, p 152. Patrice Lumumba explains why he stole 126.000 Belgian Colonial Franks from the post office where he worked as a clerck.
“While our brothers in Kenya, Nyasa-land, Rhodesia, South Africa and Angola are still fighting for their freedom, look at the wonderful future that smiles at us.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1690 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The new leaders of Africa Rolf Italiaander, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall 1690, p 155. Patrice Lumumba at the round table conference in Brussels.
“We are no longer your monkeys.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1690 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The new leaders of Africa Rolf Italiaander, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall 1690, p 158. Patrice Lumumba shouted during the Speech of King Baudouin at the Ceremony of the Proclamation of the Congo's Independence i…
“At the moment when Congo reaches independence, the whole government wishes to pay solemn homage to the King of the Belgians, and to the noble people he represents for the work done here over three quarters of a century. I would not wish my feelings to be wrongly interpreted... Long live King Baudouin, Long live Belgium, Long live the independent Congo.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1690 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The new leaders of Africa Rolf Italiaander, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall 1690, p 159. Patrice Lumumba in a speech at a luncheon following the Independence Ceremony on June 30, 1960 in Leopoldville. (In the book…
“Our dearest wish perhaps, some may find it utopian is to found in the Congo a Nation in which differences of race and religion will melt away, a homogeneous society composed of Belgians and Congolese who with a single impulse will link their hearts to the destinies of the country.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1957 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fighters for National Liberation: Political Profiles V.G. Khorosebal , Central Books Ltd, 1984, , p 138. Patrice Lumumba in a 1957 letter.
“The aspirations of the peoples of colonial countries, are identical, their destinies are similar and the goals they pursue in their national development are the same: liberation of Africa from the yoke of colonialism. Africa will never be free and independent if any part of it remains under foreign domination.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1958 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fighters for National Liberation: Political Profiles V.G. Khorosebal , Central Books Ltd, 1984, , p 139. Lumumba at the 1958 intemational seminar of cultural workers in Ibadan, Nigeria, in a speech on African Unity and …
“We protest against any attempts to split our national territory. The Congo’s greatness is based on the maintenance of its political and economic unity.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fighters for National Liberation: Political Profiles V.G. Khorosebal , Central Books Ltd, 1984, , p 139. Lumumba at the Round table conference in Brussels 1960.
“All together, dear brothers and sisters, workers and government employees, workers by brain and by hand, rich and poor, Africans and Europeans, Catholics and Protestants, Kimbanguists and Kitawalists, let us unite and create a great nation.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fighters for National Liberation: Political Profiles V.G. Khorosebal , Central Books Ltd, 1984, , p 140.
“We know, that some Congolese are well off, but they are in the minority; meanwhile we are concerned with the majority of the population.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1956 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fighters for National Liberation: Political Profiles V.G. Khorosebal , Central Books Ltd, 1984, , p 140. Lumumba in 1956.
“The European powers, want to enlist the sympathies of those African leaders who follow their lead and deceive their own people. Some of these powers see the meaning of their presence in the Congo and in Africa in exploiting their riches as much as possible, availing themselves of the services of the corrupt leaders.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fighters for National Liberation: Political Profiles V.G. Khorosebal , Central Books Ltd, 1984, , p 141. Lumumba in 1959.
“I know that an overwhelming majority of the Belgian people are against the oppression of Africans. They disapprove of a colonial status for the Congo under which 14 million Congolese are exposed to the diktat of a tiny economic oligarchy. If the Belgian people were to have their say, the Congo would never have experienced the misfortunes which are affecting it now.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fighters for National Liberation: Political Profiles V.G. Khorosebal , Central Books Ltd, 1984, , p 141. Lumumba in October 1959.
“Tensions in the relations between the Congo and Belgium are being exacerbated only by the groups interested in exploiting the Congo’s wealth and who egg the authorities on to extend the colonial regime, as well as by some officials who are pursuing their private interests.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fighters for National Liberation: Political Profiles V.G. Khorosebal , Central Books Ltd, 1984, , p 141. Lumumba on September 6 in Luluabourg 1959.
“History attests, that independence is never brought to you on a silver platter. It must be won. To that end we must organise ourselves and mobilise all the healthy forces in the country. The Congolese have responded to our appeal and thanks to this united strength we have dealt a mortal blow to rotten colonialism.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1959 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fighters for National Liberation: Political Profiles V.G. Khorosebal , Central Books Ltd, 1984, , p 141. Lumumba in a lecture in Brussels, April 1959.
“Kamina, is the first enterprise we are going to nationalise in Congo.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fighters for National Liberation: Political Profiles V.G. Khorosebal , Central Books Ltd, 1984, , p 143. Lumumba referring to the Belgian military base in Kamina, in the lower Congo on February I960.
“We became the target of attacks because we no longer want to submit ... and reject corruption. They tried to bribe us and millions were promised to me, but I refused, I did not take a single centime.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fighters for National Liberation: Political Profiles V.G. Khorosebal , Central Books Ltd, 1984, , p 144. Lumumba in August 1960 from the United States.
“My dear countrymen! In joy and in sorrow I will always be with you. It is together with you that I fought to free my country from foreign rule. Together with you I am fighting to strengthen our national independence. Together with you, I will fight to preserve the integrity and national unity of the Republic of the Congo.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fighters for National Liberation: Political Profiles V.G. Khorosebal , Central Books Ltd, 1984, , p 145. Lumumba in his last appeal to the people from a prison in Thysville.
“Neither cruelty, nor violence, nor torture will make me beg for mercy, because I prefer to die with my head raised high, with unshakeable faith... In my country’s predestination rather than live in submission forsaking my sacred principles.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Fighters for National Liberation: Political Profiles V.G. Khorosebal , Central Books Ltd, 1984, , p 145. Lumumba On January 17 in Elizabethville right before his assassination by Katangese separatists.
“Our wounds are too fresh and too smarting for us to be able to have known ironies, insults, and blows which we had to undergo morning, noon and night because we were Negroes. We have seen our lands spoiled in the name of laws which only recognised the right of the strongest. We have known laws which differed according to whether it dealt with a black man or a white.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“We have known the atrocious sufferings of those who were imprisoned for their political opinions or religious beliefs and of those exiled in their own country. Their fate was worse than death itself. Who will forget the rifle-fire from which so many of our brothers perished, or the gaols in to which were brutally thrown those who did not want to submit to a regime of justice, oppression and exploitation which were the means the colonialists employed to dominate us?”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“in this sphere even Belgium who, understanding in the end the sense of history, did not try any harder to oppose our independence, is prepared to give us her help and friendship.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) said by 1961 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“No Congolese worthy of the name will ever to be able to forget that this independence has been won through a struggle in which we did not spare our energy and our blood... We have known ironies, insults, and blows which we had to undergo morning, noon and night because we were Negroes. We have seen our lands spoiled in the name of laws which only recognized the right of the strongest. We have known laws which differed according to whether it dealt with a black man or a white. We have known the atrocious sufferings of those who were imprisoned for their political opinions or religious beliefs, and of those exiled in their own country. Their fate was worse than death itself. Who will forget the rifle-fire from which so many of our brothers perished, or the jails in to which were brutally thrown those who did not want to submit to a regime of justice, oppression and exploitation which were the means the colonialists employed to dominate us?”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1690 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: The new leaders of Africa Rolf Italiaander, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall 1690, p 159. Patrice Lumumba at the Ceremony of the Proclamation of the Congo's Independence in Leopoldville on June 30, 1960.
“No amount of brutality, atrocity or torture have ever led me to ask for pity, for I would rather die with my head high, wth my faith undaunted and with profound confidence in the destiny of my country, than live in submission and in the contempt of sacred principles. History will one day judge, but it will not be the history taught in Brussels, Paris or Washington or in the United Nations, but the history which will be taught in the countries freed from colonialism and its puppets. Africa will write its own history and it will be, both north and south of the Sahara, a history of glory and dignity.”
Patrice Lumumba (1925–1961) first seen 1961 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Attributed to Lumumba by Doudou Thiam in a statement to the United Nations General Assembly, 967th Plenary Meeting, 1961. Said to be written by Lumumba to his wife while imprisoned.