Haile Selassie I (born Lij Tafari Makonnen Woldemikael) was Crown Prince and Regent of the Ethiopian Empire from 1916 to 1928, and then King and Regent from 1928 to 1930, and finally Emperor from 1930 to 1974. He is a defining figure in modern Ethiopian history. He was a member of the Solomonic dynasty who traced his lineage to Emperor Menelik I. Selassie’s internationalist views led to Ethiopia becoming a charter member of the United Nations. His regime was criticized by human rights groups as autocratic and illiberal.
He has been also criticized by some historians for his suppression of rebellions among the landed aristocracy (the mesafint), which consistently opposed his reforms; some critics have also criticized Ethiopia’s failure to modernize rapidly enough. Among the Rastafari movement, Haile Selassie is revered as the returned messiah of the Bible, God incarnate. The 1973 famine in Ethiopia led to Selassie’s removal from the throne. He was strangled to death on 27 August 1975 at age 83 following a coup d’état.
Some of the best quotes from Haile Selassie are listed below.
- “A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being.” – Haile Selassie
- “A man who says ‘I have learned enough and will learn no further’ should be considered as knowing nothing at all.” – Haile Selassie
- “A people without a nation they can really call their own is a people without a soul.” – Haile Selassie
- “Above all, we must avoid the pitfalls of tribalism. If we are divided among ourselves on tribal lines, we open our doors to foreign intervention and its potentially harmful consequences.” – Haile Selassie
- “Alcohol may be man’s worst enemy, but the bible says love your enemy.” – Haile Selassie
- “Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out and look for a successful personality and duplicate it.” – Haile Selassie
- “An awareness of our past is essential to the establishment of our personality and our identity as Africans.” – Haile Selassie
- “As the essence of our existence it embodies our culture, true identity, nationhood and destiny.” – Haile Selassie
- “Do not worship me, I am not God. I’m only a man. I worship Jesus Christ.” – Haile Selassie
- “Education develops the intellect; and the intellect distinguishes man from other creatures. It is education that enables man to harness nature and utilize her resources for the well-being and improvement of his life.” – Haile Selassie
- “Enlightened leadership is spiritual if we understand spirituality not as some kind of religious dogma or ideology but as the domain of awareness where we experience values like truth, goodness, beauty, love and compassion, and also intuition, creativity, insight and focused attention.” – Haile Selassie
- “He [the Almighty] taught us that all human beings are equal regardless of sex, national origin and tribe. And He also taught us all who seek Him shall find Him.” – Haile Selassie
- “History teaches us that unity is strength, and cautions us to submerge and overcome our differences in the quest for common goals, to strive, with all our combined strength, for the path to true African brotherhood and unity.” – Haile Selassie
- “I have lived too long to cherish many illusions about the essential high-mindedness of men when brought into stark confrontation with the issue of control over their security, and their property interests.” – Haile Selassie
- “If a strong government finds that it can, with impunity, destroy a weak people, then the hour has struck for that weak people to appeal to the League of Nations to give its judgment in all freedom. God and history will remember your judgment.” – Haile Selassie
- “If each and everyone endeavours to cooperate and work in as much as his capacity permits, our faith rests upon the Almighty God that he would bless the results for us.” – Haile Selassie
- “If you are open-minded and ready to learn, there are many things which you can learn not only from books and instructors but form the very life experience itself.” – Haile Selassie
- “Imagination, devotion, perseverance, together with divine grace, will assure your success. Knowing that material & spiritual progress are essential to man, we must ceaselessly work for the equal attainment of both. It is only when a people strike an even balance between scientific progress & spiritual & moral advancement that it can be said to possess a wholly perfect and complete personality and not a lopsided one.” – Haile Selassie
- “In my deepest, darkest moments, what really got me through was a prayer. Sometimes my prayer was ‘Help me.’ Sometimes a prayer was ‘Thank you.’ What I’ve discovered is that intimate connection and communication with my creator will always get me through because I know my support, my help, is just a prayer away.” – Haile Selassie
- “In the history of the human race, those periods which later appeared as great have been the periods when the men and the women belonging to them had transcended the differences that divided them and had recognized in their membership in the human race a common bond.” – Haile Selassie
- “Infuse your life with action. 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, honour your creator, not by passively waiting for grace to come down from upon high, but by doing what you can to make grace happen… yourself, right now, right down here on Earth.” – Haile Selassie
- “It is much easier to show compassion to animals. They are never wicked.” – Haile Selassie
- “It is simple a way of life, pure and original as was given by the Most High.” – Haile Selassie
- “It is us today. It will be you tomorrow.” – Haile Selassie
- “Keep your dreams alive. Understand to achieve anything requires faith and belief in yourself, vision, hard work, determination, and dedication. Remember all things are possible for those who believe.” – Haile Selassie
- “Knowledge paves the way to Love, and Love in its turn fosters understanding, and leads one along the path of great common achievements.” – Haile Selassie
- “Leadership does not mean domination.” – Haile Selassie
- “Let us always meet each other with smile, for the smile is the beginning of love.” – Haile Selassie
- “Let us set our goals too high; let us demand more of ourselves than we believe we possess.” – Haile Selassie
- “Many discouraging hours will arise before the rainbow of accomplished goals will appear on the horizon.” – Haile Selassie
- “No one should question the faith of others, for no human being can judge the ways of God.” – Haile Selassie
- “Observe that anyone who dies for his country is a fortunate man, but death takes what it wants, indiscriminately, in peace-time as well as in war. It is better to die with freedom than without it.” – Haile Selassie
- “Our youth must be steadfast and take advantage of the benefits of modern civilization. Do not fall prey to idleness for it shall be a curse to you and to succeeding generations. You must set yourselves us as examples of determination and hard work. Plan your time and use both your physical and mental powers purposefully and productively.” – Haile Selassie
- “Outside the kingdom of the Lord there is no nation which is greater than any other. God and history will remember your judgment.” – Haile Selassie
- “Peace demands the united efforts of us all. Who can foresee what spark might ignite the fuse?” – Haile Selassie
- “Peace is a day-to-day problem, the product of a multitude of events and judgments. Peace is not an ‘is,’ it is a ‘becoming.’” – Haile Selassie
- “Spiritual power is the eternal guide, in this life and the life after, for man ranks supreme among all creatures. Led forward by spiritual power, man can reach the summit destined for him by the Great Creator.” – Haile Selassie
- “Spiritual power is the eternal guide, in this life and the life after, for man ranks supreme among all creatures. Led forward by spiritual power, man can reach the summit destined for him by the Great Creator.” – Haile Selassie
- “Spirituality is not theology or ideology.” – Haile Selassie
- “That until the philosophy which holds one race superior and another inferior is finally and permanently discredited and abandoned: That until there are no longer first-class and second class citizens of any nation; That until the colour of a man’s skin is of no more significance than the colour of his eyes; That until the basic human rights are equally guaranteed to all without regard to race; That until that day, the dream of lasting peace and world citizenship and the rule of international morality will remain but a fleeting illusion, to be pursued but never attained.” – Haile Selassie
- “The greatest legacy one can pass on to one’s children and grandchildren is not money or other material things accumulated in one’s life, but rather a legacy of character and faith.” – Haile Selassie
- “The preservation of peace and the guaranteeing of man’s basic freedoms and rights require courage and eternal vigilance: courage to speak and act – and if necessary, to suffer and die – for truth and justice; eternal vigilance, that the least transgression of international morality shall not go undetected and unremedied.” – Haile Selassie
- “The temple of the Most High begins with the human body, which houses our life, essence of our existence.” – Haile Selassie
- “The true leader is a different sort; he seeks effective activity which has a truly beneficent purpose. He inspires others to follow in his wake, and holding aloft the torch of wisdom, leads the way for society to realize its genuinely great aspirations.” – Haile Selassie
- “There is always something moving, brewing. There are ambitious people everywhere. Wicked people. The only thing to do is to deal with them with courage and decision. One must beware of uncertainty, weakness or conflicting emotions – they lead to defeat.” – 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 most; that has made it possible for evil to triumph.” – Haile Selassie
- “True love is like ghosts, which everyone talks about and few have seen.” – Haile Selassie
- “We must become bigger than we have been: more courageous, greater in spirit, larger in outlook. We must become members of a new race, overcoming petty prejudice, owing our ultimate allegiance not to nations but to our fellow men within the human community.” – 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 that crucified Him.” – Haile Selassie
- “When African righteous people come together, the world will come together.” – Haile Selassie
- “You must always remember that to lead, one must first learn to follow.” – Haile Selassie
