Ethiopian Culture Quotes

The Ethiopians … are said to be the tallest and handsomest men in the whole world. In their customs they differ greatly from the rest of mankind, and particularly in the way they choose their kings; for they find out the man who is the tallest of all the citizens, and of strength equal to his height, and appoint him to rule over them.

As I've said a million times, I'm obsessed with Liya Kebede's LemLem line. The pieces, made by artisans in her native Ethiopia, are perfect for summer! I'm also a big fan of jewelry line Lulu Frost. Designer Lisa Salzer and I have been friends forever, and I love how she incorporates vintage pieces into her jewelry.

According to Ethiopian custom, parents wait to name a baby because children often die in the first weeks of life.

In this country, some aristocratic families automatically categorize persons with dark skin, thick lips, and kinky hair as "Barias" [Amharic for slave]... let it be clear to everybody that I shall soon make these ignoramuses stoop and grind corn!

In high school, I began to dig my way into Ethiopian history, and began to understand myself as a young man formed by multiple narratives.

Ethiopians, that is, Negroes, gave the world the first idea of right and wrong and thus laid the basis of religion and all true culture and civilization.

I'm Christian. Growing up in Ethiopia, it's half-Christian and half-Muslim. You grow up with Muslim kids. I'm very much aware of their religion.

To save my child, I'd rather go hungry. I got all of Ethiopia inside of me.

I used to live in Ethiopia as a child, and I lived there when Haile Selassie was the emperor.

My mother, my grandmother, my uncles would play Ethiopian artists like Aster Aweke and Mulatu Astatke all the time in the house.

All I knew about Ethiopia was from a few records that I like, as well as what I read about the famine. But you get there and it's another world. It's filled with art and music and poetry and intellectuals and writers - all kinds of people.

Ethiopia always has a special place in my imagination and the prospect of visiting Ethiopia attracted me more strongly than a trip to France, England, and America combined. I felt I would be visiting my own genesis, unearthing the roots of what made me an African.

I spent time living in Ethiopia, learning about the cultural importance of coffee and its roots in Ethiopia.

For an Ethiopian mother, if you have a chubby kid, it means you're doing something good.

As I got older, my pops tried to keep me involved with the culture by telling me the stories of the conflict between Ethiopia and Eritrea, how he came to America, and about our family back home, because all that side of my family - my aunties, grandparents - is in Africa.

I don't have memories of Ethiopia as a child. I didn't learn about Ethiopian culture until after I moved to New York and started meeting people from the Ethiopian community.

Growing up in an Ethiopian household allowed me to feel like I had an audience before I had an audience.

The shadow of a mighty Negro past flits through the tale of Ethiopia the shadowy and of the Egypt the Sphinx. Throughout history, the powers of single blacks flash here and there like falling stars, and die sometimes before the world has rightly gauged their brightness.

It wasn't until I came to New York and started to see the African American community, but also the Ethiopian community here, and started to eat the food, started to understand the music. I said, you know, I got to go and understand the culture. So me and my sister went.

The nearest approach I have ever seen to the symmetry of ancient sculpture was among the Arab tribes of Ethiopia. Our Saxon race can supply the athlete, but not the Apollo.