14 Quotes by Simone Schwarz-Bart

...when an old person dies, a whole library disappears.

Mon climat intérieur est tropical aujourd'hui : il y a de la pluie, du soleil, des odeurs fortes, et un sentiment de pourriture végétale flotte dans l’air débilitant.

Nous ne te voulons pas de mal, mais nous avons un sens africain de la race. Les blancs sont des blancs, mais vous autres descendants d’esclaves, vous n’êtes rien. Ce n’est pas ta faute, et ce n’est pas la nôtre : tu n'es rien. Tu es un, comme chaque poisson du fleuve.

The tale is, in large part, our capital. I was nourished on tales...when an old person dies, a whole library disappears.

All rivers, even the most dazzling, those that catch the sun in their course, all rivers go down to the ocean and drown. And life awaits man as the sea awaits the river.

Men are strong, women are smart, but no matter how smart, their bellies are always there to betray women and that's their downfall.

Only the knife knows what goes on in the heart of a pumpkin.

Every day you must arise and say to your heart, I have suffered enough and now I must live because the light of the sun must not be wasted, it must not be lost without an eye to appreciate it.

There is the churning and the boiling of the sea, and the foam on top of it and that is what man is, churning and foam together.