In Africa, when an old man dies, it's a library burning.
Interpretation
The loss of an elderly person represents the disappearance of valuable knowledge and wisdom.
This quote by Amadou Hampate Ba emphasizes the profound impact that the death of an elder has on a community, as they carry with them a wealth of experiences, stories, and traditions. In many cultures, especially in Africa, elders are seen as repositories of wisdom and their passing signifies not just the loss of a loved one, but the loss of history, teachings, and cultural knowledge that can never be fully replaced.
In practice
During a remembrance ceremony, we quoted this to reflect on the wisdom we've lost with the passing of our grandmother.
To strive with difficulties, and to conquer them, is the highest human felicity; the next is, to strive, and deserve to conquer: but he whose life has passed without a contest, and who can boast neither success nor merit, can survey himself only as a useless filler of existence; ad if he is content with his own character, must owe his satisfaction to insensibility.
So I have known Islam on three continents before coming to the region where it was first revealed
Had every Athenian citizen been a Socrates, every Athenian assembly would still have been a mob.
Let soul speak with the silent articulation of a face.
Morality which depends upon the helplessness of a man or woman has not much to recommend it. Morality is rooted in the purity of our hearts.
A particularly beautiful woman is a source of terror. As a rule, a beautiful woman is a terrible disappointment.
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