Zakes Mda > Quotes

“Our elders say that an elephant does not find its own trunk heavy.”
― Zakes Mda

“If you are truly telling a South African story then it will be political — because you are dealing with people who lead political lives in an environment which is highly politically charged.”
― Zakes Mda

“The girls cannot contain their joy. They must start rehearsing immediately. They teach Saluni a new song that they have composed at the swamps. It is about croaking frogs in their green and brown colours and how the girls caught them and pierced their eyes with sharp sticks and set them free to hop about in wonderful blindness. It is a haunting melody. They tell Saluni that the song is all about the fun they had at the swamps today. The blinded frogs will live peacefully because now they won't be bothered by the bright rays of the sun. They won't have to run from danger, because they won't see it. They will therefore be safe since danger only catches those who run away from it.”
― Zakes Mda, The Whale Caller

“Death lives with us everyday. Indeed our ways of dying are our ways of living. Or should I say our ways of living are our ways of dying?”
― Zakes Mda, Ways of Dying

“Everybody laughed for a long time, for it was the kind of joke that seemed to grow on you. You would laugh and eventually stop. But after a few minutes you would think of the joke again, and you would burst out laughing all over again.”
― Zakes Mda, Ways of Dying