“And yet, I have not wronged you, have I? Indeed if there is anyone I — Our Sister Killjoy

"“But what she also came to know was that someone somewhere would always see in any kind of difference, an excuse to be mean.”"

"“A dog among the masters, the most masterly of the dogs.”"

"“Yes. Work is love made visible.”"

"“From all around the Third World, you hear the same story; rulers asleep to all things at all times - conscious only of riches, which they gather in a coma - intravenously. So that you wouldnt know they were feeding if it was not for the occasional tell-tale trickle somewhere around the mouth. And when they are jolted awake, they stare about them with unseeing eyes, just sleepwalkers in a nightmare.”"

"“One had said, You say you come from Ghaanna? Then we have a lot in common! Sissie didnt know what to do with the statement, uncertain of whether it was a threat or a promise. We had chiefs like you, the Scot went on, who fought one another and all, while the Invader marched in. Sissie thanked her, but also felt strongly that their kinship had better end right there.”"

"“Sissie could see it all. In her uncertain eyes, on her restless hands and on her lips, which she kept biting all the time. But oh, her skin. It seemed as if according to the motion of her emotions Marijas skin kept switching on and switching off like a two-colour neon sign. So that watching her against the light of the dying summer sun, Sissie could not help thinking that it must be a pretty dangerous matter, being white. It made you feel awfully exposed, rendered you terribly vulnerable. Like being born without your skin or something. As though the Maker had fashioned the body of a human, stuffed it into a polythene bag instead of the regular protective covering, and turned it loose into the world. Lord, she wondered, is that why, on the whole, they have had to be extra ferocious? Is it so they could feel safe here on the earth, under the sun, the moon and the stars?”"