8 Quotes by Alephonsion Deng

We’d never handled guns so when we saw a person handle it and it went bang, we knew that thing killed. We called it the harmful stick. We learned quickly that if somebody points the stick at you, you die.

From what I could see, men or women, children or adults, young or aged, rich or poor, war was making everyone equal.

Family became so important to me. Without it I was like a tree alone in a desert.

Great wisdom is achieved by being open to the world. The world does not open unless you are willing to be open.

I think it is important for my self-esteem to be able to tell the stories. I think if I'm helping myself, than I'm helping other people.

I was used to a life of escaping bullets and taking care of myself.

No matter how bad the situation is, if you can’t find any humor then life is not worth it.

He’d say, “If my mother was here, I wouldn’t be like this.” We’d say, “Shut up boy, you’re not in your mama’s house no more.” We said that a lot. As children, seven or eight years old, we know nothing about the world, just that we were not in mama’s house no more.