Africa's downfall has always been the cult of the personality. And their names always seem to begin with M. We've had Mobutu and Mengistu and I'm not going to add Meles to the list.

Spending one hour with Isaias is far more worthwhile, rewarding and enlightening than reading ten books

As we respond to the assault of our enemy and defend our country, we must never break international laws. Crime can not be solved by more crime.

I know more now than I did in the past about the process of democratization. I know more about the pitfalls.

The most stupid mistake a counter-insurgency operation can make is alienating the population. If you alienate the population, you're finished.

Of course everybodys thinking evolves over time.

If it is presumed that the Kenyans will democratise in order to eat the peanuts of development assistance from the European Union... it would be a big mistake.

An oversupply of national sentiment is not the problem in Somalia. The problem is a lack of it. The problem is an oversupply of sub-sub-clannish attitude.

Of course everybody's thinking evolves over time. Only dead people cease learning, and I am not certified dead yet. So I am still learning.

Love removes the world for you, and just as surely when it's going well as when it's going badly.

That's all that death is ... Just a going away into another country ... Only the separation is harder to bear because there can be no letters to bridge the silence.

Much better to do fewer things and have time to make the most of them.

People's fates are simplified by their names.

Never to forget where we came from and always praise the bridges that carried us over.

We have free elections. Everybody can vote, we fought for that, we brag about that and we know we're going to have a winner and we're going to have a loser.

Brooks too wide for our leaping, hedges far to high. Loads too heavy for our moving, burdens too cumbersome for us to bear. Distances far beyond our journeying. The horse gave us mastery.

My enemies can take what they want, but my life is mine and so long as I breathe, it has value. I won't ever give up. Not again.

If you hear someone scream, you shouldn't close the drapes. You should help. You've got to try.

I don't want to speak too disparagingly of my generation (actually I do, we had a chance to change the world but opted for the Home Shopping Network Instead).