National liberation, national renaissance, the restoration of nationhood to the people, commonwealth: whatever may be the headings used or the new formulas introduced, decolonization is always a violent phenomenon. Frantz Fanon More Quotes by Frantz Fanon More Quotes From Frantz Fanon To educate the masses politically does not mean, cannot mean, making a political speech. What it means is to try, relentlessly and passionately, to teach the masses that everything depends on them; that if we stagnate it is their responsibility, and that if we go forward it is due to them too, that there is no such thing as a demiurge, that there is no famous man who will take the responsibility for everything, but that the demiurge is the people themselves and the magic hands are finally only the hands of the people. Frantz Fanon responsibility men mean Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable, called cognitive dissonance. And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn't fit in with the core belief. Frantz Fanon strong atheist faith When we revolt it’s not for a particular culture. We revolt simply because, for many reasons, we can no longer breathe. Frantz Fanon breathe reason culture Violence is a cleansing force. It frees the native from his inferiority complex and from his despair and inaction; it makes him fearless and restores his self-respect Frantz Fanon fearless despair self Wealth is not the fruit of labor but the result of organized protected robbery. Frantz Fanon fruit wealth results Each generation must discover its mission, fulfill it or betray it, in relative opacity. Frantz Fanon missions betray generations Imperialism leaves behind germs of rot which we must clinically detect and remove from our land but from our minds as well. Frantz Fanon germs land mind I am black; I am in total fusion with the world, in sympathetic affinity with the earth, losing my id in the heart of the cosmos -- and the white man, however intelligent he may be, is incapable of understanding Louis Armstrong or songs from the Congo. I am black, not because of a curse, but because my skin has been able to capture all the cosmic effluvia. I am truly a drop of sun under the earth. Frantz Fanon intelligent heart song Every colonized people-in other words, every people in whose soul an inferiority complex has been created by the death and burial of its local cultural originality-finds itself face to face with the language of the civilizing nation; that is, with the culture of the mother country. The colonized is elevated above his jungle status in proportion to his adoption of the mother country's cultural standards. Frantz Fanon mother country people The unpreparedness of the educated classes, the lack of practical links between them and the mass of the people, their laziness, and, let it be said, their cowardice at the decisive moment of the struggle will give rise to tragic mishaps. Frantz Fanon struggle class people A government or a party gets the people it deserves and sooner or later a people gets the government it deserves. Frantz Fanon party government people If the building of a bridge does not enrich the awareness of those who work on it, then the bridge ought not to be built. Frantz Fanon diversity bridges justice The oppressed will always believe the worst about themselves. Frantz Fanon always-believe worst believe What matters is not to know the world but to change it. Frantz Fanon social-justice what-matters world The Negro enslaved by his inferiority, the white man enslaved by his superiority alike behave in accordance with a neurotic orientation. Frantz Fanon inferiority white-man men Capitalist exploitation and cartels and monopolies are the enemies of underdeveloped countries. On the other hand a regime which is completely oriented towards the people as a whole and based on the principle that man is the most precious of all possessions, will allow us to go forward more quickly and more harmoniously, and thus make impossible that caricature of society where all economic and political power is held in the hands of a few who regard the nation as a whole with scorn and contempt. Frantz Fanon men country hands He who is reluctant to recognize me opposes me. Frantz Fanon reluctant The basic confrontation which seemed to be colonialism versus anti-colonialism, indeed capitalism versus socialism, is already losing its importance. What matters today, the issue which blocks the horizon, is the need for a redistribution of wealth. Humanity will have to address this question, no matter how devastating the consequences may be. Frantz Fanon issues block what-matters The settler makes history and is conscious of making it. And because he constantly refers to the history of his mother country, he clearly indicates that he himself is the extension of that mother country. Thus the history which he writes is not the history of the country which he plunders but the history of his own nation in regard to all that she skims off, all that she violates and starves. Frantz Fanon mother writing country For a colonized people the most essential value, because the most concrete, is first and foremost the land: the land which will bring them bread and, above all, dignity. Frantz Fanon essentials land people
