In the West, you have always associated the Islamic faith 100 percent with Arab culture. This in itself is a fundamentalist attitude and it is mistaken. – Youssou NDour
I look at my people, and I look at those who control them – the political elite. And the sad thing is that the elites are just not interested in the welfare of the people. – Youssou NDour
Im a modern Muslim. I pray, and if I have a question, I ask someone who is more educated in the religion than me. – Youssou NDour
In politics, sometimes you have to lie, or you make a promise that you cannot keep. – Youssou NDour
When I first left university, I thought about going into the private sector. But I discovered when I went to interview that I could only have a career in the back office, or doing HR. The attitude was, My dear lady, you cannot possibly think about going on the board. – Pauline Neville-Jones
The nature of catastrophe is, after all, reasonably unvarying in the way it ruins, destroys, wounds and devastates. But if something can be learned from the event – not least something as profound as the theory of plate tectonics – then it somehow puts the ruination into a much more positive light. – Simon Winchester