# Quotes about emigration - Quotes: 28 - Authors: 24 - Broader topic: [Quotes about society](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/society.md) - Topic page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration - JSON version (same data): https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.json ## Quotes > Roots make the commonality of errantry and exile, for in both instances roots are lacking. We must begin with that. ("Errantry, Exile") [Édouard Glissant](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edouard-glissant.md) · [Poetics of Relation](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edouard-glissant/poetics-of-relation.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/edouard-glissant/poetics-of-relation/roots-make-the.md) Topics: [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > I stowed away in a great steel boat, but the horror stowed away inside me. When I left my homeland I thought I had escaped—but out on the open sea, I started to have nightmares. I was naïve to suppose I had left my country with nothing. [Chris Cleave](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chris-cleave.md) · [The Other Hand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chris-cleave/the-other-hand.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chris-cleave/the-other-hand/i-stowed-away.md) Topics: [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md), [trauma](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/trauma.md) > Truly, this is the one thing that people from your country and people from my country agree on. They say, That refugee girl is not one of us. That girl does not belong. That girl is a halfling, a child of an unnatural mating, an unfamiliar face in the moon.” [Chris Cleave](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chris-cleave.md) · [The Other Hand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chris-cleave/the-other-hand.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chris-cleave/the-other-hand/truly-this-is-the.md) Topics: [otherness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/otherness.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > Most days I wish I was a British pound coin instead of an African girl. Everyone would be pleased to see me coming.” [Chris Cleave](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chris-cleave.md) · [The Other Hand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chris-cleave/the-other-hand.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chris-cleave/the-other-hand/most-days-i-wish.md) Topics: [humor](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/humor.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > I have taken into myself some of the assumptions of life in a Western democracy—certain ideas about legality, for instance, certain expectations of due process—and in that sense I have returned a stranger.” [Teju Cole](https://www.leafyquotes.com/teju-cole.md) · [Every Day Is for the Thief](https://www.leafyquotes.com/teju-cole/every-day-is-for-the-thief.md) · p. 17 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/teju-cole/every-day-is-for-the-thief/i-have-taken.md) Topics: [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > When we lived in Cuba, I was smart. But when we got to Queens, in New York City, in the United States of America, I became dumb, just because I couldn't speak English. (first lines) [Ruth Behar](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ruth-behar.md) · [Lucky Broken Girl](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ruth-behar/lucky-broken-girl.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ruth-behar/lucky-broken-girl/when-we-lived.md) Topics: [language](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/language.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > His sister had come over here in 1994, and then he'd come himself, to get away from all the trouble over there. Never regretted it. Said this was a fine country except they let in too many immigrants. [William Gibson](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-gibson.md) · [Virtual Light](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-gibson/virtual-light.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/william-gibson/virtual-light/his-sister-had.md) Topics: [hypocrisy](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/hypocrisy.md), [irony](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/irony.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > I still think that being forced to leave your home out of fear is one of the worst injustices a human being can face. [Nadia Murad](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nadia-murad.md) · [The Last Girl](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nadia-murad/the-last-girl.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nadia-murad/the-last-girl/i-still-think.md) Topics: [fear](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/fear.md), [home](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/home.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > Leaving, I discovered, did not cure my displacement, but rather reinforced it. [Ayelet Tsabari](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayelet-tsabari.md) · [The Art of Leaving](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayelet-tsabari/the-art-of-leaving.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ayelet-tsabari/the-art-of-leaving/leaving-i-discovered.md) Topics: [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md), [belonging](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/belonging.md) > You must know, my dear young lady, that in Lagos you may be a million publicity officers for the Americans; you may be earning a million pounds a day; you may have hundreds of servants: you may be living like an elite, but the day you land in England, you are a second-class citizen.” [Buchi Emecheta](https://www.leafyquotes.com/buchi-emecheta.md) · [Second-Class Citizen](https://www.leafyquotes.com/buchi-emecheta/second-class-citizen.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/buchi-emecheta/second-class-citizen/you-must-know.md) Topics: [racism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/racism.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > For me, the person I was becoming when we left was erased, and another one was created. [Esmeralda Santiago](https://www.leafyquotes.com/esmeralda-santiago.md) · [When I Was Puerto Rican](https://www.leafyquotes.com/esmeralda-santiago/when-i-was-puerto-rican.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/esmeralda-santiago/when-i-was-puerto-rican/for-me-the.md) Topics: [identity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/identity.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > As the plane climbed over the town and swung above the sea I knew how it felt to go into exile. [Wilfred Thesiger](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilfred-thesiger.md) · [Arabian Sands](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilfred-thesiger/arabian-sands.md) · p. 310 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/wilfred-thesiger/arabian-sands/as-the-plane.md) Topics: [longing](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/longing.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > The trick was to understand America, to know that America was give-and-take. You gave up a lot but you gained a lot, too. [Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie.md) · [The Thing Around Your Neck](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/the-thing-around-your-neck.md) · p. 198 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/chimamanda-ngozi-adichie/the-thing-around-your-neck/the-trick-was.md) Topics: [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > We are all of us, it has been said, the children of immigrants and foreigners — even the American Indian, although he arrived here a little earlier. What a man is and what he becomes is in part due to his heritage, and the men and women who came west did not emerge suddenly from limbo. Behind them were ancestors, families, and former lives. Yet even as the domestic cattle of Europe evolved into the wild longhorns of Texas, so the American pioneer had the characteristics of a distinctive type. > > Physically and psychologically, the pioneers' need for change had begun in the old countries with their decision to migrate. In most cases their decisions were personal, ordered by no one else. Even when migration was ordered or forced, the people who survived were characterized by physical strength, the capacity to endure, and not uncommonly, a rebellious nature. > > History is not made only by kings and parliaments, presidents, wars, and generals. It is the story of people, of their love, honor, faith, hope and suffering; of birth and death, of hunger, thirst and cold, of loneliness and sorrow. In writing my stories I have found myself looking back again and again to origins, to find and clearly see the ancestors of the pioneers. [Louis L’Amour](https://www.leafyquotes.com/louis-lamour.md) · [Sackett's Land](https://www.leafyquotes.com/louis-lamour/sacketts-land.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/louis-lamour/sacketts-land/we-are-all.md) Topics: [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > 'An exile is a refugee with a library!' [Zia Haider Rahman](https://www.leafyquotes.com/zia-haider-rahman.md) · [In the Light of What We Know](https://www.leafyquotes.com/zia-haider-rahman/in-the-light-of-what-we-know.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/zia-haider-rahman/in-the-light-of-what-we-know/an-exile-is-a-refugee.md) Topics: [reading](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/reading.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > "If you're going to make your life in a new country you should go before you're twenty-five. After that you start to get associations, little grooves and anchors, that make it difficult to change." [Nevil Shute](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nevil-shute.md) · [No Highway](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nevil-shute/no-highway.md) · p. 214 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/nevil-shute/no-highway/if-youre-going.md) Topics: [change](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/change.md), [youth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/youth.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > Without comprehension, the immigrant would forever remain shut - a stranger in America. Until America can release the heart as well as train the hand of the immigrant, he would forever remain driven back upon himself, corroded by the very richness of the unused gifts within his soul. ("How I found America") [Anzia Yezierska](https://www.leafyquotes.com/anzia-yezierska.md) · [Hungry Hearts](https://www.leafyquotes.com/anzia-yezierska/hungry-hearts.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/anzia-yezierska/hungry-hearts/without-comprehension-the.md) Topics: [America](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/america.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > It is painful to be consciously of two worlds. The Wandering Jew in me seeks forgetfulness. I am not afraid to live on and on, if only I do not have to remember too much. A long past vividly remembered is like a heavy garment that clings to your limbs when you would run. [Mary Antin](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-antin.md) · [The Promised Land](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-antin/the-promised-land.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/mary-antin/the-promised-land/it-is-painful.md) Topics: [memory](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/memory.md), [the past](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > Me, I don’t see immigration as a real issue; for me an immigrant is just someone who used to be somewhere else, and the sooner we unite and organize to dismantle the structures that prevent all of us being free, the better I’ll feel. [Russell Brand](https://www.leafyquotes.com/russell-brand.md) · [Revolution](https://www.leafyquotes.com/russell-brand/revolution.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/russell-brand/revolution/me-i-dont.md) Topics: [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > America is a faith, perhaps pancakes its sacrament. Opportunity comes to those who put away the disadvantages of family or circumstance and entrust themselves to the future. The point of the American story is simple enough for a child, particularly an immigrant child, to grasp: The past holds no sway in America. [Richard Rodriguez](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez.md) · [Darling](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/darling.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/darling/america-is-a-faith.md) Topics: [the past](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/the-past.md), [America](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/america.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > When I was a boy and refused to speak Spanish (because I spoke English), then could not speak Spanish from awkwardness, then guilt, Mexican relatives criticized my parents for letting me “lose it”—my culture, they said. [Richard Rodriguez](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez.md) · [Brown](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/brown.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/brown/when-i-was.md) Topics: [identity](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/identity.md), [language](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/language.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > But the bilingualists simplistically scorn the value and necessity of assimilation. They do not seem to realize that there are two ways a person is individualized. So they do not realize that while one suffers a diminished sense of private individuality by becoming assimilated into public society, such assimilation makes possible the achievement of public individuality. Supporters of bilingual education thus want it both ways. They propose bilingual schooling as a way of helping students acquire the skills of the classroom crucial for public success. But they likewise insist that bilingual instruction will give students a sense of their identity apart from the public. Behind this screen there gleams an astonishing promise: One can become a public person while still remaining a private person. At the very same time one can be both! There need be no tension between the self in the crowd and the self apart from the crowd! Who would not want to believe such an idea? [Richard Rodriguez](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez.md) · [Hunger of Memory](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/hunger-of-memory.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/richard-rodriguez/hunger-of-memory/but-the-bilingualists.md) Topics: [language](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/language.md), [individualism](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/individualism.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > Because this is the other thing about immigrants: they cannot escape their history any more than you yourself can lose your shadow. [Zadie Smith](https://www.leafyquotes.com/zadie-smith.md) · [White Teeth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/zadie-smith/white-teeth.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/zadie-smith/white-teeth/because-this-is-the.md) Topics: [history](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/history.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > How can anyone in England understand what brings people from the far corners of the earth to die on a wet, miserable island which they detest and to which they have no ties? — Chapter 18, page 148. [J. M. Coetzee](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee.md) · [Youth](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/youth.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/youth/how-can-anyone.md) Topics: [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > Of all the bewildering things about a new country, the absence of human landmarks is one of the most depressing and disheartening. [Willa Cather](https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather.md) · [O Pioneers!](https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/o-pioneers.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/willa-cather/o-pioneers/of-all-the.md) Topics: [loneliness](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/loneliness.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > There are circumstances in which a man may be of more use to his fellow-countrymen outside his country than within it. Then he should listen only to his own zeal and should bear his exile without a murmur; that exile is one of his duties. But you, dear Emile, you have not undertaken the painful task of telling men the truth, you must live in the midst of your fellow-creatures, cultivating their friendship in pleasant intercourse; you must be their benefactor, their pattern; your example will do more than all our books, and the good they see you do will touch them more deeply than all our empty words. [Jean Jacques Rousseau](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau.md) · [Emile; or On Education](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/jean-jacques-rousseau/emile-or-on-education/there-are-circumstances.md) Topics: [duty](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/duty.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > You're an expatriate. You've lost touch with the soil. You get precious. Fake European standards have ruined you. You drink yourself to death. You become obsessed by sex. You spend all your time talking, not working. You are an expatriate, see? You hang around cafés. [Ernest Hemingway](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway.md) · [The Sun Also Rises](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/the-sun-also-rises.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/ernest-hemingway/the-sun-also-rises/youre-an-expatriate.md) Topics: [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md) > Therefore, men of Polynesia and Boston and China and Mount Fuji and the barrios of the Philippines, do not come to these islands empty-handed, or craven in spirit, or afraid to starve. There is no food here. In these islands there is no certainty. Bring your own food, your own gods, your own flowers and fruits and concepts. For if you come without resources to these islands you will perish... On these harsh terms the islands waited. [James A. Michener](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-a-michener.md) · [Hawaii](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-a-michener/hawaii.md) — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-a-michener/hawaii/therefore-men-of-polynesia.md) Topics: [courage](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/courage.md), [survival](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/survival.md), [emigration](https://www.leafyquotes.com/topics/emigration.md)