Youssou N'Dour

I respect music, I do. I love it.

— Youssou N'Dour

Islam is a peaceful religion.

— Youssou N'Dour

Music is a language.

— Youssou N'Dour

Travel teaches as much as books.

— Youssou N'Dour

I grew up with reggae music.

— Youssou N'Dour

Senegal needs a renaissance.

— Youssou N'Dour

I don't really see myself as an actor.

— Youssou N'Dour

Africa is the future.

— Youssou N'Dour

I have studied at the school of the world.

— Youssou N'Dour

Islam has been badly used by a certain ideology.

— Youssou N'Dour

Senegal needs to free itself, to rediscover its democracy,

— Youssou N'Dour

I love meeting interesting people and doing things with them.

— Youssou N'Dour

Listen, a lot of religions have fundamentalists.

— Youssou N'Dour

When the slaves left Africa, they left us this music. They left us blues.

— Youssou N'Dour

Malaria kills and its main victims are children and women. We can stop this scourge so people can live with dignity and…

— Youssou N'Dour

I have to protect my family and have a life with them that is completely private.

— Youssou N'Dour

In politics, sometimes you have to lie, or you make a promise that you cannot keep.

— Youssou N'Dour

In the West, you have always associated the Islamic faith 100 percent with Arab culture. This in itself is a fundamentalist attitude…

— Youssou N'Dour

I really want to bring the message of love that is Islam to people; bring something new to that familiar face.

— Youssou N'Dour

I can assure you that I have never used my media companies for propaganda, and I will never do so.

— Youssou N'Dour

My father used to tell me about how musicians don't have respect from people and he was afraid about my future.

— Youssou N'Dour

My music is like a spinning ball. It can turn in one direction, and then it comes back to origins.

— Youssou N'Dour

I think that Sufism fits all over the world. The concept is not anything that fits standard Western ideas - it's always…

— Youssou N'Dour

I don't want to see that two-tier Senegal, that two-tier Africa, when you have those at the top and those at the…

— Youssou N'Dour

Music in Africa often contains messages. Music in Senegal, and Africa, is never music for music's sake or solely for entertainment. It's…

— Youssou N'Dour

I think people should know more of Africa in terms of its joie de vivre, its feeling for life. In spite of…

— Youssou N'Dour

I look at my people, and I look at those who control them - the political elite. And the sad thing is…

— Youssou N'Dour

In Africa, there is much confusion… Before, there was no radio, or other forms of communication… Now, in Africa ... the government…

— Youssou N'Dour

If you come from Africa with your economic poverty and your cultural riches, and you meet someone like Peter Gabriel or a…

— Youssou N'Dour

The question of modernization is central to disturbances in the Middle East and in Africa. Everyone is after modernization, no matter where…

— Youssou N'Dour

I'm a modern Muslim. I pray, and if I have a question, I ask someone who is more educated in the religion…

— Youssou N'Dour

I want to use my music to deliver a political message and sometimes to denounce, but I don't want to be a…

— Youssou N'Dour

World music is about taking things from different places and bringing them together - which is great.

— Youssou N'Dour

Politics is politics; art is art. If you play a political role, you have to stop being an artist.

— Youssou N'Dour

Western record companies haven't always dealt with African musicians in the best way. Giving them a lot of money and telling them…

— Youssou N'Dour

When I'm in Senegal, I can't just sit in isolation making music. People need my help. And the Senegalese people helped create…

— Youssou N'Dour

People need to see that, far from being an obstacle, the world's diversity of languages, religions and traditions is a great treasure,…

— Youssou N'Dour