Miriam Makeba

It's a really unfair world because life is, where I am; all day long we listen to American music. So I don't…

— Miriam Makeba

Belafonte sent his people to pick me up and I went back and shook his hand, then went back to my little…

— Miriam Makeba

Age is getting to know all the ways the world turns, so that if you cannot turn the world the way you…

— Miriam Makeba

I do not sing politics. I merely sing the truth.

— Miriam Makeba

It was hard to be away from home, but I am glad that I am home now.

— Miriam Makeba

He [Belafonte] was a good teacher and looked after me. He said, 'You have such great talent, you must try not to…

— Miriam Makeba

Africa has her mysteries, and even a wise man cannot understand them. But a wise man respects them

— Miriam Makeba

There are three things I was born with in this world, and there are three things I will have until the day…

— Miriam Makeba

In New York I heard A Piece of Ground, written by a white South African, Jeremy Taylor. I modified it a little…

— Miriam Makeba

In the West the past is like a dead animal. It is a carcass picked at by the flies that call themselves…

— Miriam Makeba

I look at the past and I see myself.

— Miriam Makeba

I titled the album Reflections because I am reflecting on my music career.

— Miriam Makeba

Age is wisdom if one has lived ones life properly.

— Miriam Makeba

Which goes to show you, you can make all the laws you want, but you cannot change people's ways. If you must…

— Miriam Makeba

The conqueror writes history, they came, they conquered and they write. You don't expect the people who came to invade us to…

— Miriam Makeba

Girls are the future mothers of our society, and it is important that we focus on their well-being.

— Miriam Makeba

You are damned and praised, or encouraged or discouraged by those who listen to you, and those who come to applaud you.…

— Miriam Makeba

The tragedy of civil wars in countries like Angola and Mozambique is that they left many civilians maimed. Poverty is the reason…

— Miriam Makeba

I look at a stream and I see myself: a native South African, flowing irresistibly over hard obstacles until they become smooth…

— Miriam Makeba

People in the United States still have a 'Tarzan' movie view of Africa. That's because in the movies all you see are…

— Miriam Makeba

I have one thing in common with the emerging black nations of Africa: We both have voices, and we are discovering what…

— Miriam Makeba

There are a lot of homes for boys, but very few for girls, that is why I chose to do for girls.

— Miriam Makeba

I ask you and all the leaders of the world: Would you act differently, would you keep silent and do nothing if…

— Miriam Makeba

When I was young, I never bought records because my brother Joseph played saxophone and had a record player. I loved listening…

— Miriam Makeba

And why is our music called world music? I think people are being polite. What they want to say is that it's…

— Miriam Makeba