Top 33 Quotes & Sayings by Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Explore popular quotes and sayings by a Haitian statesman Jean-Bertrand Aristide.
Last updated on December 21, 2024.
Jean-Bertrand Aristide

Jean-Bertrand Aristide is a Haitian former Salesian priest and politician who became Haiti's first democratically elected president. A proponent of liberation theology, Aristide was appointed to a parish in Port-au-Prince in 1982 after completing his studies to become a priest. He became a focal point for the pro-democracy movement first under Jean-Claude "Baby Doc" Duvalier and then under the military transition regime which followed. He won the 1990–91 Haitian general election, with 67% of the vote. As a priest, he taught liberation theology and, as a president, he attempted to normalize Afro-Creole culture, including Vodou religion, in Haiti.

Sometimes people who want to understand Haiti from a political perspective may be missing part of the picture. They also need to look at Haiti from a psychological perspective. Most of the elite suffer from psychogenic amnesia. That means it's not organic amnesia, such as damage caused by brain injury. It's just a matter of psychology.
I respect religion and will respect any religion.
As far as we are concerned, we are ready to leave today, tomorrow, at any time, to join the people of Haiti, to share in their suffering, help rebuild the country, moving from misery to poverty with dignity.
The structure of apartheid is still rooted in the Haitian society. When you have apartheid, you don't see those behind the walls. That is the reality of Haiti. — © Jean-Bertrand Aristide
The structure of apartheid is still rooted in the Haitian society. When you have apartheid, you don't see those behind the walls. That is the reality of Haiti.
Of course, learning is strengthened and solidified when it occurs in a safe, secure and normal environment.
I know how the American people care for that democratic principle. They want to see their vote respected. As we in Haiti want to see the vote of the people respected.
The first time Haiti had free and fair democratic elections was 1990, when I was elected.
The future of Haiti must be linked to the respect of the rights of every single citizen.
If one suffers we all suffer. Togetherness is strength. Courage.
We have problems which will be addressed by Haitians.
Sometimes people who want to understand Haiti from a political perspective may be missing part of the picture. They also need to look at Haiti from a psychological perspective.
We are all equal, rich and poor, and we need a society where the people enjoy their rights.
When we say 'democracy' we have to mean what we say.
In 1994, when I went back to Haiti from exile, we established a Commission for Truth and Justice and Reconciliation. I passed the documents to the next government, and I never heard about it again.
We must all make peace so that we can all live in peace.
I am confident that I can serve my country without being involved as the president of the country now.
When you care about human beings, you do your best to not repress and to not let people to repress and to not arm people to repress.
Haitians don't like to say they are hungry because we are proud.
The spirit of Ubuntu, that once led Haiti to emerge as the first independent black nation in 1804, helped Venezuela, Colombia and Ecuador attain liberty, and inspired our forefathers to shed their blood for the United States' independence, cannot die. Today, this spirit of solidarity must and will empower all of us to rebuild Haiti.
Peace in the head, peace in the stomach.
As we all know, many people remain buried under tons of rubble and debris, waiting to be rescued. When we think of their suffering, we feel deeply and profoundly that we should be there, in Haiti, with them, trying our best to prevent death.
I will work to bring peace to everyone - whatever economic level - as long as you are Haitian.
Haiti, Haiti, the further I am from you, the less I breathe. Haiti, I love you, and I will love you always. Always.
In order for peace to reign, one must speak the truth, and that is why I have spoken of a political abduction, ... ... Far from my own country, but in deep communion with all Haitians, including Haitians abroad, I continue to launch an appeal for peaceful resistance.
I am still the only elected president of the country.
We have not reached the consensus that to eat is a basic human right. This is an ethical crisis. This is a crisis of faith. — © Jean-Bertrand Aristide
We have not reached the consensus that to eat is a basic human right. This is an ethical crisis. This is a crisis of faith.
We shall prepare the coffee of reconciliation through the filter of justice. Through reconciliation, streams of tears will come to our eyes.
Love is the air that I breathe, like oxygen. When I lack it, I feel atrophied, asphyxiated. When I have it, I feel I am growing. And so this growth is linked to others, or to a collective other. If I realize that I do not love you, my faith diminishes, and I breathe less and less of the oxygen of life. When I feel linked to you, in communion with you, there is a current of love that passes between us, and the intensity can multiply. And the more this love grows, the more the faith becomes luminous, the more I feel linked to the collective other. I am speaking of God.
Thirty-two coups d'etat are enough.
Chopped down the tree of peace, but it will grow again.
Pa gen lape nan tet, si pa gen lape nan vant (there is no peace in the head if there is no peace in the stomach).
When we say democracy we have to mean what we say.
We are all equal, rich and poor and we need a society where the people enjoy their rights.
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