---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The person who strays away from the…"
description: "\"The person who strays away from the source is unroofed and is like dust blown about by the wind.\" — Molefi Kete Asante"
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6d/molefi-kete-asante-62526_dust_the-person-who-strays-away-from-the-sour_1519446.jpg"
---

#  The person who strays away from the source is unroofed and…

![“The person who strays away from the source is unroofed and is like dust blown about by the wind.” quote by Molefi Kete Asante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6d/molefi-kete-asante-62526_dust_the-person-who-strays-away-from-the-sour_1519446.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6d/molefi-kete-asante-62526_dust_the-person-who-strays-away-from-the-sour_1519446.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6d/molefi-kete-asante-62526_dust_the-person-who-strays-away-from-the-sour_1519446.jpg)

> “The person who strays away from the source is unroofed and is like dust blown about by the wind.”

[Molefi Kete Asante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molefi-kete-asante/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

Straying from one's cultural roots leaves one exposed, directionless, like dust tossed by wind.

**In simple terms:** Leaving cultural origins makes you vulnerable and aimless.

Key Takeaway

Stay grounded in cultural heritage.

Themes

culture identity displacement

Mood

reflective cautionary

Type

philosophical inspirational

When to use this quote

- education
- community building
- personal identity

Key Concepts

rootedness vulnerability diaspora

Questions to Reflect On

- How can one honor roots while embracing change?
- What practices keep cultural identity resilient?

A Different Perspective

Overemphasis on roots may limit adaptability.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Blown Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/blown-wind-528248/) [Dust](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust/) [Dust Blown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust-blown-4259449/) [Person Strays](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/person-strays-5612458/) [Persons](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/persons/) [Source](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/source/) [Strays Away](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strays-away-1837333/) [Unroofed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/unroofed-5612459/) [Wind](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wind/)

## Related quotes

> [“Angel dust blown a sunder, Nestling on the edge of unchartered dreams, Filtering the dileneation between ones desires &amp; needs.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/truth-devour/angel-dust-blown-a-sunder-nestling-on-the-edge-of-unchartered-dreams/)

[Truth Devour](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/truth-devour/)

> [Whenever the mind unsteady and restless strays away from the spirit, let him ever and for ever lead it again to the spirit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bhagavad-gita/whenever-the-mind-unsteady-and-restless-strays-away-from-the-spirit/)

[Bhagavad Gita](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bhagavad-gita/)

> [“With a little gasp he sees himself as merely a leaf blown by the wind through the streets of his village. He knows that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sherwood-anderson/with-a-little-gasp-he-sees-himself-as-merely-a-leaf-blown-by-the-wind/)

[Sherwood Anderson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sherwood-anderson/)

> [I'd love to claim that what I have done in my life is of my doing, but it's not of my doing at all.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hurt/i-d-love-to-claim-that-what-i-have-done-in-my-life-is-of-my-doing-but/)

[John Hurt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hurt/)

> [My first course came and I put down my book, and I just happened to put up my hand to scratch my head and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derek-jacobi/my-first-course-came-and-i-put-down-my-book-and-i-just-happened-to/)

[Derek Jacobi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derek-jacobi/)

> [“Thick smoke like a herd of black horses was rising over the massive building and being blown around by the wind.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ismail-kadar/thick-smoke-like-a-herd-of-black-horses-was-rising-over-the-massive/)

[Ismail Kadare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ismail-kadar/)

> [I assume my stance, and take back the club, low, slowly; at the top, my eyes fog over, and my joints dip and swirl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-assume-my-stance-and-take-back-the-club-low-slowly-at-the-top-my/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [At about 10 o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows and in and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/at-about-10-o-clock-in-the-morning-the-sun-threw-a-bright-dust-laden/)

[John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/)

> [Mr. Bumpy from Bump in the Night was this funky little guy who lived under the bed and thought eating dust bunnies was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/mr-bumpy-from-bump-in-the-night-was-this-funky-little-guy-who-lived/)

[Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/)

> [“People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn't see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/people-were-made-of-nothing-so-much-as-dust-and-i-couldn-t-see-that/)

[Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/)

> [Wild honey smells of freedom The dust - of sunlight The mouth of a young girl, like a violet But gold - smells of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/wild-honey-smells-of-freedom-the-dust-of-sunlight-the-mouth-of-a/)

[Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/)

> [We think literature is immortal, but even that decays and ultimately turns to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-farren/we-think-literature-is-immortal-but-even-that-decays-and-ultimately/)

[Mick Farren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-farren/)

> [She had been dragged in the most humiliating of all dusts, the dust reserved for older women who let themselves be approached, on amorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/she-had-been-dragged-in-the-most-humiliating-of-all-dusts-the-dust/)

[Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/)

> [“Veiled by the dust of its own passing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-rogers/veiled-by-the-dust-of-its-own-passing/)

[Cameron Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-rogers/)

> [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/)

[Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/)

## More by Molefi Kete Asante

> [Your power is in your faith. Keep it and pass it on to other bloods.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molefi-kete-asante/your-power-is-in-your-faith-keep-it-and-pass-it-on-to-other-bloods/)

[Molefi Kete Asante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molefi-kete-asante/)

> [A wise person speaks carefully and with truth, for every word tht passes between one's teeth is meant for something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molefi-kete-asante/a-wise-person-speaks-carefully-and-with-truth-for-every-word-tht/)

[Molefi Kete Asante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molefi-kete-asante/)

> [What could be any more correct for any people than to see with their own eyes?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molefi-kete-asante/what-could-be-any-more-correct-for-any-people-than-to-see-with-their/)

[Molefi Kete Asante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molefi-kete-asante/)

> [As a people, our most cherished and valuable achievements are the achievements of spirit. With an Afrocentric spirit, all things can be made to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molefi-kete-asante/as-a-people-our-most-cherished-and-valuable-achievements-are-the/)

[Molefi Kete Asante](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molefi-kete-asante/)

[Explore all 5 Molefi Kete Asante quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molefi-kete-asante/)

## More Dust quotes

> [Perhaps no order of mammals presents us with so extraordinary a series of gradations as this \[step by step, from humans to apes to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-huxley/perhaps-no-order-of-mammals-presents-us-with-so-extraordinary-a/)

[Thomas Huxley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-huxley/)

> [“Veiled by the dust of its own passing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cameron-rogers/veiled-by-the-dust-of-its-own-passing/)

[Cameron Rogers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cameron-rogers/)

> [She had been dragged in the most humiliating of all dusts, the dust reserved for older women who let themselves be approached, on amorous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-von-arnim/she-had-been-dragged-in-the-most-humiliating-of-all-dusts-the-dust/)

[Elizabeth von Arnim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-von-arnim/)

> [We think literature is immortal, but even that decays and ultimately turns to dust.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mick-farren/we-think-literature-is-immortal-but-even-that-decays-and-ultimately/)

[Mick Farren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mick-farren/)

> [Wild honey smells of freedom The dust - of sunlight The mouth of a young girl, like a violet But gold - smells of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-akhmatova/wild-honey-smells-of-freedom-the-dust-of-sunlight-the-mouth-of-a/)

[Anna Akhmatova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-akhmatova/)

> [“People were made of nothing so much as dust, and I couldn't see that doctoring all that dust was a bit better than writing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sylvia-plath/people-were-made-of-nothing-so-much-as-dust-and-i-couldn-t-see-that/)

[Sylvia Plath](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sylvia-plath/)

> [Mr. Bumpy from Bump in the Night was this funky little guy who lived under the bed and thought eating dust bunnies was a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-cummings/mr-bumpy-from-bump-in-the-night-was-this-funky-little-guy-who-lived/)

[Jim Cummings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-cummings/)

> [At about 10 o'clock in the morning the sun threw a bright dust-laden bar through one of the side windows and in and out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-steinbeck/at-about-10-o-clock-in-the-morning-the-sun-threw-a-bright-dust-laden/)

[John Steinbeck](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-steinbeck/)

> [I assume my stance, and take back the club, low, slowly; at the top, my eyes fog over, and my joints dip and swirl…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-updike/i-assume-my-stance-and-take-back-the-club-low-slowly-at-the-top-my/)

[John Updike](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-updike/)

> [When any civilization is dust and ashes," he said, "art is all that's left over. Images, words, music. Imaginative structures. Meaning—human meaning, that is—is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/margaret-atwood/when-any-civilization-is-dust-and-ashes-he-said-art-is-all-that-s/)

[Margaret Atwood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/margaret-atwood/)

> [When a man is not wanted in the village, he is always accused of raising dust even when he falls in a pool of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vikrant-parsai/when-a-man-is-not-wanted-in-the-village-he-is-always-accused-of/)

[Vikrant Parsai](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vikrant-parsai/)

> [Gatsby turned out all right at the end; it is what preyed on Gatsby, what foul dust floated in the wake of his dreams…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/f-scott-fitzgerald/gatsby-turned-out-all-right-at-the-end-it-is-what-preyed-on-gatsby/)

[F. Scott Fitzgerald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/f-scott-fitzgerald/)

> [I'm not a prophet, but I always thought it was natural for dictatorships to fall. I remember in 1989, two months before the fall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/salman-rushdie/i-m-not-a-prophet-but-i-always-thought-it-was-natural-for/)

[Salman Rushdie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/salman-rushdie/)

> [Passing beauties are only the fugitive reflections of the eternal. All beauty alters and all life melts away; in short, everything passes with marvelous…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eliphas-levi/passing-beauties-are-only-the-fugitive-reflections-of-the-eternal-all/)

[Eliphas Levi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eliphas-levi/)

> [The trees are white with dust, that o'er their sleep Wave their broad curtains in the south-wind's breath, While underneath such leafy tents they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/the-trees-are-white-with-dust-that-o-er-their-sleep-wave-their-broad/)

[Henry Wadsworth Longfellow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-wadsworth-longfellow/)

[Browse all 1,783 Dust quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dust/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "The person who strays away from the source is unroofed and is like dust blown about by the wind.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Molefi Kete Asante"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molefi-kete-asante/the-person-who-strays-away-from-the-source-is-unroofed-and-is-like/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Dust"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molefi-kete-asante/the-person-who-strays-away-from-the-source-is-unroofed-and-is-like/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6d/molefi-kete-asante-62526_dust_the-person-who-strays-away-from-the-sour_1519446.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6d/molefi-kete-asante-62526_dust_the-person-who-strays-away-from-the-sour_1519446.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b6d/molefi-kete-asante-62526_dust_the-person-who-strays-away-from-the-sour_1519446.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“The person who strays away from the source is unroofed and is like dust blown about by the wind.” — Molefi Kete Asante",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Molefi Kete Asante",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/molefi-kete-asante/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "The person who strays away from...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molefi-kete-asante/the-person-who-strays-away-from-the-source-is-unroofed-and-is-like/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/molefi-kete-asante/the-person-who-strays-away-from-the-source-is-unroofed-and-is-like/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
