50 of our favorite Haile Selassie quotes - Big Hive Mind (2023)

Haile Selassie ruled Ethiopia for decades in the 20th century, and if that wasn't enough, consider this. He was recognized by the Rastafari movement as the Bible's promised returned messiah. While few will be able to relate to the circumstances of his life, his words of wisdom will resonate with many. Here are some of his quotes on peace, religion, history, education and more.

Peace is an everyday problem, the product of a multitude of events and judgments. Peace is not an "is", it is a "become".

Haile Selassie

Don't worship me, I'm not God. i'm just a man I worship Jesus Christ.

Haile Selassie

When a strong government finds that it can destroy a weak people with impunity, then the time has come for that weak people to appeal to the League of Nations for its free judgment. God and history will remember your judgment.

Haile Selassie

We must become bigger than we have been: bolder, bigger in spirit, bigger in perspective. We must become members of a new race, transcend petty prejudices, and owe our ultimate allegiance not to nations but to our fellow human beings within the human community.

Haile Selassie

An awareness of our past is essential to establishing our personality and identity as Africans.

Haile Selassie

Keeping peace and guaranteeing basic human freedoms and rights requires courage and constant vigilance: courage to speak and act for truth and justice – and to suffer and die if necessary; perpetual vigilance lest the slightest transgression of international morality go undetected and rectified.

Haile Selassie

Above all, we must avoid the pitfalls of tribalism. When we are divided among ourselves along tribal lines, we open our doors to foreign intervention and its potentially damaging consequences.

Haile Selassie

It's much easier to show compassion for animals. You are never evil.

Haile Selassie

I have lived too long to harbor many illusions about the essential generosity of men when confronted with the question of control over their security and property interests.

Haile Selassie

Peace requires the combined efforts of all of us. Who can foresee what spark might ignite the fuse?

Haile Selassie

Throughout history it has been the inaction of those who could have acted; the indifference of those who should have known better; the silence of the voice of justice when it mattered; which made it possible for evil to triumph.

Haile Selassie

No one should question the beliefs of others, for no man can judge the ways of God.

Haile Selassie

That, until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is definitively and permanently discredited and abandoned: That, until there are no more first- and second-class citizens in any nation; That until the color of a man's skin matters no more than the color of his eyes; That until basic human rights are guaranteed to all equally, regardless of race; That until that day the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the supremacy of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion to be pursued but never attained.

Haile Selassie

If you are open-minded and willing to learn, there are many things you can learn not only from books and teachers, but from life experience itself.

Haile Selassie

Our youth must stand firm and take advantage of modern civilization. Do not succumb to idleness, for it will be a curse for you and for generations to come. They must serve as examples for us of determination and hard work. Plan your time and use your physical and mental powers purposefully and productively.

Haile Selassie

Many discouraging hours will pass before the rainbow of accomplishments appears on the horizon.

Haile Selassie

A man who says, "I've learned enough and won't study any more" should be seen as someone who doesn't know anything at all.

Haile Selassie

Imagination, dedication, perseverance along with divine grace will ensure your success. Knowing that material and spiritual advancement are essential for human beings, we must work ceaselessly to achieve both equally. Only when a people strikes a balance between scientific advancement and spiritual and moral advancement can it be said to possess a perfectly perfect and complete personality, and not a one-sided one.

Haile Selassie

You must always remember that in order to lead, one must first learn to follow...

Haile Selassie

Spiritual power is the eternal guide in this life and the life after, for man is foremost among all creatures. Propelled by spiritual power, man can reach the pinnacle destined for him by the Great Creator.

Haile Selassie

Education develops the intellect; and the intellect distinguishes man from other creatures. It is education that empowers man to use nature and use its resources for the well-being and betterment of his life.

Haile Selassie

Leadership does not mean dominance.

Haile Selassie

The true leader is of a different breed; he seeks effective activity that has a truly charitable purpose. He inspires others to follow him and holds aloft the torch of wisdom to guide society in realizing its truly great aspirations.

Haile Selassie

Something is always moving, brewing. There are ambitious people everywhere. Evil people. The only thing to do is deal with them with courage and determination. One must beware of insecurity, weakness or conflicting emotions - they lead to defeat.

Haile Selassie

History teaches us that unity is strength and exhorts us to overcome our differences in the search for common goals and to strive with all our united strength towards the path to true African brotherhood and unity.

Haile Selassie

He [the Almighty] taught us that all people are equal regardless of gender, national origin and tribe. And he also taught us that all who seek him will find him.

Haile Selassie

Do we set our goals too high; we demand more of ourselves than we think we have

Haile Selassie

Knowledge paves the way to love, and love, in turn, fosters understanding and sets one on the path of great common achievement.

Haile Selassie

In the history of the human race those periods which later appeared great were those periods when the men and women who belonged to them transcended the differences that separated them and recognized a common bond in their belonging to the human race.

Haile Selassie

When everyone strives to cooperate and work as much as their capacity allows, our faith rests on Almighty God to bless the results for us.

Haile Selassie

Enlightened leadership is spiritual when we understand spirituality not as some kind of religious dogma or ideology, but as the realm of consciousness in which we experience values ​​such as truth, goodness, beauty, love, and compassion, as well as intuition, creativity, insight, and focused attention.

Haile Selassie

Bring action into your life. Don't wait for it to happen. Make it happen. Make your own future. Make your own hope. Make your own love. And whatever your beliefs, honor your Creator, not by passively waiting for grace to descend from above, but by doing what you can to make grace happen... yourself, now, right here below the earth.

Haile Selassie

Let's always meet each other with a smile, because the smile is the beginning of love.

Haile Selassie

Alcohol may be man's worst enemy, but the Bible says love your enemy.

Haile Selassie

True love is like ghosts that everyone talks about and few have seen.

Haile Selassie

The greatest legacy one can leave to one's children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in life, but a legacy of character and faith.

Haile Selassie

Always be yourself, express yourself, believe in yourself, don't go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.

Haile Selassie

Keep your dreams alive. Understanding to achieve something requires trust and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination and dedication. Remember that all things are possible to those who believe.

Haile Selassie

What really got me through my deepest, darkest moments was prayer. Sometimes my prayer was "Help me." Sometimes a prayer was "Thank you." What I've discovered is that a close connection and communication with my Creator will always get me through because I know that my support, my help, is only a prayer is gone.

Haile Selassie

A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It's an expression of humility. It is a basis for developing virtues such as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love and well-being.

Haile Selassie

The Temple of the Most High begins with the human body, which houses our life, the essence of our existence.

Haile Selassie

Spirituality is not theology or ideology.
It is simply a way of life, pure and original, as given by the Most High.

Haile Selassie

As the essence of our existence, it embodies our culture, true identity, nationality and purpose.

Haile Selassie

A people without a nation to truly call their own is a people without a soul.

Haile Selassie

When African righteous people come together, the world will come together.

Haile Selassie

Spiritual power is the eternal guide in this life and the life after, for man is foremost among all creatures. Propelled by spiritual power, man can reach the pinnacle destined for him by the Great Creator.

Haile Selassie

Outside the Lord's kingdom there is no nation greater than any other. God and history will remember your judgment.

Haile Selassie

Today we are. tomorrow it will be you

Haile Selassie

Note that anyone who dies for his country is a happy man, but death takes whatever it pleases indiscriminately, both in peacetime and in war. It is better to die with freedom than without.

Haile Selassie

We wish to recall here the spirit of tolerance shown by Our Lord Jesus Christ when He gave forgiveness to all, including those who crucified Him.

Haile Selassie