# Véronique Tadjo

- Quotes: 11
- Author page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/veronique-tadjo

## Books

- [In the Company of Men](https://www.leafyquotes.com/veronique-tadjo/in-the-company-of-men.md) — 11 quotes

## Recently added quotes

> Colonizing space with enormous rockets will almost certainly not be a lifeline for them. For if they haven't learned to live here, how can they possibly survive in the distant Beyond? (XV)

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/veronique-tadjo/in-the-company-of-men/colonizing-space-with.md)

> Humans today think they can do whatever they like. They fancy themselves as masters, as architects of nature.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/veronique-tadjo/in-the-company-of-men/humans-today-think.md)

> What one does is never enough. I don't want this challenge we're facing to defeat us. I want to do my bit, I want future generations to understand how hard we fought to stop the triumph of the unacceptable. (V)

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/veronique-tadjo/in-the-company-of-men/what-one-does.md)

> "Go on, get out now. Go to the capital, go to your aunt. The village is cursed. Don't ever come back here." (beginning of I)

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/veronique-tadjo/in-the-company-of-men/go-on-get.md)

> We, the trees. Our roots run all the way down to the heart of the earth, and we can feel the beat of her pulse. We inhale her breath. We taste her flesh. We live and die in the exact same spot, never moving from the land we occupy. Both prisoners and conquerors of time, we stand riveted to the ground yet soaring upward, reaching for the clouds. We adapt to all weathers, rain or shine, hurricanes or the dry harmattan winds. Our crowns merge with the sky's cotton-wool dreams. We are the link between Man and his past, his present, and his unpredictable future. (III)

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/veronique-tadjo/in-the-company-of-men/we-the-trees.md)

> I am Baobab, the first tree, the everlasting tree, the totem tree. My roots reach deep into the belly of the earth. My crown pierces the sky. I seek the light that brightens the universe, illuminates darkness, and soothes hearts. (III)

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/veronique-tadjo/in-the-company-of-men/i-am-baobab.md)

> I'm a trespasser in the Kingdom of Death. This is his private domain, his empire, where he rules with absolute power. I feel like an astronaut floating in space, a thousand miles from earth. The slightest tear in his spacesuit and he’s lost. The slightest tear in mine, just like him, I’m lost too.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/veronique-tadjo/in-the-company-of-men/im-a-trespasser.md)

> The idea was that the military was needed to beat the virus into retreat. However, if I, as someone on the ground, were asked to make a comment, I would address the international community. I'd tell them that fear can provoke a strong reaction, which will in turn free up enormous resources and placate public opinion. But the outcome will not necessarily be the best in the long run. True solidarity is meant to be durable. And in that respect, if I may offer the international community a further piece of advice, I would ask them to investigate how the aid payments were managed. Have the infrastructure rehabilitation projects actually been implemented? Has staff training been effective? Are we better prepared if disaster strikes again, or has everything fallen into oblivion already, crowded out by the thick bustle of our days? (IX)

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/veronique-tadjo/in-the-company-of-men/the-idea-was.md)

> We were here to last. We were here to spread our shade over the remotest lands. We were here so our foliage would murmur the secrets of the four corners of the world. But human beings have destroyed our hopes. No matter where in the world they are, they wage war on the forest. Our trunks crash to the ground with a sound like thunder. Our naked roots mourn the end of our dreams. You cannot destroy the forest without spilling blood.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/veronique-tadjo/in-the-company-of-men/we-were-here.md)

> It will take years for us to recover from what we've lived through. And also to forget. I tell myself that life is incomprehensible. We need death to bring us back together. (VI)

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/veronique-tadjo/in-the-company-of-men/it-will-take.md)

> As a bat, somewhere midway between a mammal and a bird, with my foxy-looking fangs and snout and my translucent wings, I harbor but one regret: having let Ebola escape from my belly. It was dormant in me until Man came and wreaked the splendour of the forest.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/veronique-tadjo/in-the-company-of-men/as-a-bat.md)