Malidoma Patrice Some

It's true that tribal rivalries have something to do with political instability. It's also true that those rivalries were exaggerated by colonialism.…

— Malidoma Patrice Some

In Africa, you cannot come into a comfortable material lifestyle without going through Christ. So many Africans say, "I'll take the whole…

— Malidoma Patrice Some

“Wealth (among the Dagara) is determined not by how many things you have, but by how many people you have around you.”

— Malidoma Patrice Somé

Spiritual methods are essential in Africa if you are going to survive politically. My cousin is the chief security officer for the…

— Malidoma Patrice Some

The spiritual thirst that is latent in everybody can never come to a place of fulfillment unless people begin to think of…

— Malidoma Patrice Some

Nakedness is very common in the tribe. It is not a shameful thing; it is an expression of one's relationship with the…

— Malidoma Patrice Some

Historically the customs and traditions of day-to-day life in Africa have been dismissed by Western cultural anthropologists as primitive, chaotic, pagan activities…

— Malidoma Patrice Some

Healing comes when the individual remembers his or her identity—the purpose chosen in the world of ancestral wisdom—and reconnects with that world…

— Malidoma Patrice Some

I see too many people who jump into spirituality as a shelter to hide from reality. It doesn't work that way. The…

— Malidoma Patrice Some

The power of quiet is great. It generates the same feelings in everything one encounters. It vibrates with the cosmic rhythm of…

— Malidoma Patrice Some

Whether they are raised in indigenous or modern culture, there are two things that people crave: the full realization of their innate…

— Malidoma Patrice Some

The power of nature exists in its silence. Human words cannot encode the meaning because human language has access only to the…

— Malidoma Patrice Some

One can say, 'Teach me what you know,' but the better request is, 'Teach me about what teaches you.'

— Malidoma Patrice Some

Peace is Letting Go--Returning to the Silence that cannot enter the realm of words because it is too pure to be contained…

— Malidoma Patrice Some

If you discuss the beliefs of Christianity with the village diviner, the medicine man, he will say the white man must be…

— Malidoma Patrice Some

As long as we are not ourselves, we will try to be what other people are.

— Malidoma Patrice Some

“Among the Dagara, darkness is sacred. It is forbidden to illuminate it, for light scares the Spirit away…. The one exception to…

— Malidoma Patrice Somé

Our souls do not like stagnation. Our souls aspire toward growth, that is, toward remembering all that we have forgotten due to…

— Malidoma Patrice Some

Nature is like a canvas, a painting of countless options and possibilities. You don't really worship spirit, because you are also spirit,…

— Malidoma Patrice Some

“… for there are times when disobedience heals a very ailing part of the self. It relieves the human spirit’s distress at…

— Malidoma Patrice Somé

“Grandfather used to call the rain 'the erotic ritual between heaven and Earth.' The rain represented the seeds sown in the Earth’s…

— Malidoma Patrice Somé