Top 305 Quotes & Sayings by Haitian Authors

I believe agriculture is the key to change for this country.

We are in the middle of a big swamp of ignorance that is taught by a lot of nonsense, propaganda, absurdity, amalgams. I have a hard time listening to any speech. You feel like you want to stop the TV every two seconds to rephrase them, because it's lie after lie, turning stuff upside down, and you can't follow that. That's the trap.

Deep down, you know what you want, and you should go for it.

I took up arms for the freedom of my color. It is our own - we will defend it or perish.

If one suffers we all suffer. Togetherness is strength. Courage.

On some level, now, we are joining the larger world and realizing that we are connected with people in these very scary ways, sometimes. What happened recently in Spain affects us here and brings questions up. It is too bad that people have to be shaken up in that way.

Any MP has to have a proper family life, they have to have support of their partner.

Seven out of 10 Americans are one paycheck away from being homeless.

I wanted to contribute my time, myself, my knowledge, my love, because Haiti is my everything.

It is the destiny of the people of Haiti to suffer.

The chief of the tribe is supposed to be the father of all people of the tribe. That is the Haitian way.

Conversations between parents and kids are important - about race issues, about all kinds of things, about heritage.

You cannot eat a cluster of grapes at once, but it is very easy if you eat them one by one.

People don't realize how black people, minorities, women as well, all their lives, they have had to make the effort to understand everybody else. All my life, I've known American culture very well. I probably know American literature more than the average American.

The biggest problem Haiti has is the weakness of its public institutions.

I'm not just a remix guy.

No one will escape justice. It's a moral and judicial duty.

I started to read James Baldwin very early on in my life. At a time, as a young adult in the Sixties, when there were not that many authors in whom I could recognize myself, he was an important guide and mentor to me, as he was to many others. He helped me understand who I was and decipher the world around me.

Especially for Haitian immigrant parents, being a musician is not a job.

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.

I know a lot of people who jumped into a record label right away, dropped an album, and then nothing happened for them. Build your fan base first, and follow your gut.

I am a hard-working entrepreneur.

Only if you were lucky to be born in the right class, the one Donald Trump was born in, then of course you have a beautiful view of the world. You find that everybody else is an imbecile, because he doesn't think like you, he doesn't dress like you, he doesn't have the same girl as you, etc. But I call that ignorance.

As president the law dictates how I do my job. The same law dictates how a judge should function.

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.

I know the Haitian people - because I am the Haitian people.

The last five - six presidents of Haiti have failed miserably. And I don't think it would be an honor for me to say I want to be the next 'president.' I want to be the man by with whom change arrives.

I'm not a dictator. Dictators are people who take power and don't know when they're leaving. I know my mandate ends on Feb. 7, 2022.

Jovenel Moise is a guy who will continue to do all that is good in all domain, but agriculture is our locomotive.

As you all know, agriculture is my priority. You all know this, I have just said it.

I wanted to raise the voice of a lot of the people that I knew growing up, and this was, for the most part, poor people who had extraordinary dreams but also very amazing obstacles.

I will not respond to violence with violence.

I remain close to my people. I keep singing with them.

There is a frustration too, that at moments when there's not a coup, when there are not people in the streets, that the country disappears from people's consciousness.

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.

I'm confident being at Universal, which is a great home for me, 'cause they understand what I'm trying to do.

I come from hip hop for sure, and there are basic elements of that, but then I'll take from somewhere else, like samba, and do it with trap drums. I like going places other people haven't gone before.

For this album I was determined to do it my way. Take my time. I'm gonna win, lose or draw on my own.

I'm always home, doing nothing, making beats, and watching movies.

I just hope that my films will survive me.

The only direction I can give to an actor, a good actor who knows his skills, is, 'Here are those words. They're yours. Make them yours. Don't tell the text but be the text.' That means you have to be the emotion of the text.

Everything in Haiti right now is a priority.

I was really not into school. Everything was distracting to me. I would have a beat in my head or a song. I was always not paying attention, just daydreaming.

I can't judge Justin Bieber, because I don't know him.

I used to listen to my music on the bus. It was one of my favourite things, to look out the window and over at the Jacques Cartier Bridge and Parc Jean-Drapeau.

General Biassou is a simple, vulnerable man without much knowledge, and he is easily led astray by the scoundrels surrounding him. He has sworn eternal hatred for me, and for some time now, he has been trying to destroy me using whatever means he can.

I don't think I ever watched a movie without being totally immersed in the story. But at the same time, I had to keep some distance from it. I had to question what the narrative was trying to tell me or was injecting in my brain.

The dignity of the Haitian people has been trampled on.

I didn't finish high school. I tried to as an adult, but with all this touring, I had to quit.

I started from scratch but I have always acted with honesty and integrity.

In terms of the idea of long-term occupation - I have been reading a little bit more about this period - and you can see in that occupation are many lessons for the current occupation of Iraq. So we have these connections that go way back that people aren't aware of.

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 have published a proclamation: 'Forgive us our transgressions as we forgive those who transgress against us.' I have ordered all citizens to return to their parishes to enjoy the benefits of this general amnesty.

Really, what I'm trying to do is make soul music, but I don't even think of it as a genre. It's more of a feeling.

We prioritize dialogue, even in our fight with bandits and gangs.

Jovenel is his own man.

I love the London vibe. I get so much love from London that I never had from other places. It's crazy. The people there understand music so much more.

It's time for Haitians to have access to health care. It's time to open our borders to the Haitian diaspora, open our markets to the world. It's time to open our country to potential investors.

There's an apparent freedom, an apparent liberty of access to everything, but you can't use it because it's too much. Everything is at the same level. You even have fake news. You have to go through fake news to make up your mind. Facts and lies are treated as equal. There are even people who are against the idea of climate change.

You face the reality, whether it's hopeful or hopeless. What's your alternative? To lie down and die?