Hugh Masekela

“Watching a Kirk Douglas movie, 'Young Man With A Horn,' made me want to be a trumpet player.”

“I have a major respect for nature. I'm an environmentalist.”

“I live a very enjoyable life. I understand what moderation is.”

“Twenty years ago, I was part of a movement of millions of people who were going after freedom. But today, they look and they say, 'What are the advantages of freedom?' So far, it's the vote and maybe, in certain places, lack of police harassment. You can live anywhere you want and do anything you want - if you have the means.”

“To tell you the truth, man, we spend most of the time travelling in hotels, in festivals, in concert halls, clubs, airports. The most unenjoyable part is all the security at airports.”

“I don't think I have the power to forgive.”

“If I don't make heritage visible and the strength of mother tongue important for my grandchildren, it scares me that they might say in 20 years from now, 'Well, it is rumoured that we used to be Africans long ago.' And in many urban areas, it's already happening.”

“Not only in Africa but in much of the world, most leaders' pockets are lined by industrial business. And industrial business is never going to stop aiming at profit.”

“For me to want to play the trumpet was a very, very odd thing for my clan as a whole. One of my uncles was a high school principal, and he referred to my trumpet as a bugle, which really hurt me.”

“One of the greatest things that could really happen to Africa is for us to get rid of the borders and for the leadership not to think that the countries belong to them... We didn't create the borders to start with.”

“Just because Nelson has been released doesn't mean the government has done us any favors. We have nothing to be grateful for. The government destroyed our country, destroyed our people. If anybody needs amnesty, it is the government.”

“I don't criticise anybody, but I just don't understand religion. Like I don't understand nationalism. These are the two things that cause wars. I don't understand why they are supposed to be good things.”

“I lived for music since I could think.”

“The apartheid people were actors, and they had to act out their part in their beliefs every day. That's why we always saw them as being comedic.”

“I don't think what I do is influenced by suffering. I come from a talented people who are prolific in music and dance.”

“I think the most difficult thing that has had to happen in South Africa for the previously disadvantaged communities is they had to reconcile that the oppressor has been enriched and the establishment is now making five or 10 times more profit than they were during the time the economic embargo was on them.”

“Apartheid didn't impinge on music. It impinged on people's freedoms.”

“I don't think anybody has ever been able to live up to what they promised. I don't know a government that has ever been successful at that because once they get into power, things change and the world is controlled also by business now.”

“It's obvious that the rest of the world loves high African culture - African culture, period.”

“I'm travelling more than ever. I don't have the answer as to why, but the demand seems to have grown as I've got older.”