Cecil Rhodes - Quotations

Quotations

• "To think of these stars that you see overhead at night, these vast worlds which we can never reach. I would annexe the planets if I could; I often think of that. It makes me sad to see them so clear and yet so far."

• “Pure philanthropy is very well in its way but philanthropy plus five percent is a good deal better.”

• "I contend that we are the first race in the world, and that the more of the world we inhabit the better it is for the human race...If there be a God, I think that what he would like me to do is paint as much of the map of Africa British Red as possible..."

• "In order to save the forty million inhabitants of the United Kingdom from a bloody civil war, our colonial statesmen must acquire new lands for settling the surplus population of this country, to provide new markets... The Empire, as I have always said, is a bread and butter question"

• "Remember that you are an Englishman, and have consequently won first prize in the lottery of life."

• "Equal Rights for all Civilized Men South of the Zambesi"
• "Resign. Remarry. Return." Telegram to Parnell on hearing of the political difficulty arising from the latter's affair with Katharine O'Shea.