9 Best Teju Cole Quotes

“The city was a palimpsest, and I was learning to read it, layer by layer.”

Julius reflecting on his walks through New York City and its layered history.

“Memory, I thought, is a kind of fiction, a way of telling ourselves stories about our lives, and sometimes those stories are not true.”

Julius's internal meditation on the subjective and unreliable nature of memory.

“What is a city, after all, but a collection of stories?”

Julius contemplating the essence of urban environments and the narratives they contain.

“There are silences that are more eloquent than speech.”

Julius observing and reflecting on the unspoken aspects of human interaction and communication.

“The migrant crisis is not a crisis of migrants. It is a crisis of humanity.”

Reflecting on the global displacement of people and the world's often inadequate or hostile response.

“To welcome migrants is to welcome the future.”

Emphasizing the long-term societal benefits and moral imperative of hospitality towards those seeking refuge.

“Photography can be a tool of empathy, but it can also be a tool of dehumanization.”

Discussing the dual nature of visual media in shaping public perception of migrants.

“The gaze of the camera, like the gaze of the state, can be a form of violence.”

Critiquing the power dynamics inherent in how migrants are photographed and represented, often without their consent or full agency.

“We are all, in some sense, migrants.”

Highlighting the universal experience of movement, change, and the search for belonging throughout human history.