Quotessence
Home / Topics / Henry Morton Stanley Quotes

Henry Morton Stanley Quotes

Browse 16 quotes about Henry Morton Stanley.

Henry Morton Stanley Quotes

“I was received with an overwhelming display of military and civilian tributes, all the way to the royal palace where I was to stay, troops were lined up behind which enthusiastic people were chanting their viva, it seemed to me that a major change had come in the Belgian public opinion on the importance of the Congo, when I first went there, the Belgian newspapers spouted nothing but criticism, they were completely dumbfounded, the king was recognized as the great benefactor of the nation.”

CongoLeopold IiBelgiumCongo Free StateLeopold Ii Of BelgiumHenry Morton Stanley
Author:Henry M. Stanley
Create image

“These expeditions respond to an extraordinarily civilizing Christian idea: to abolish slavery in Africa, to dispel the darkness that still reigns in part of the world, to get to know the resources that seem gigantic, in short, pouring out the treasures of civilization, that's it. purpose of this modern crusade worthy of our era.”

ExplorationCongoLeopold IiBelgiumCongo Free StateLeopold Ii Of BelgiumHenry Morton StanleyScramble For AfricaEuropean ExpansionLivingstone
Author:Leopold II
Create image

“Papers from Count Jules Greindl, who was the main collaborator of Leopold II in this curious affair, the author has drawn a very precise account, supplemented by documents. To take advantage of the financial ruin of Spain to make the Philippines a kingdom of its own, distinct from Belgium and then to form a company which would exploit the islands in the name of Spain, such were the successive ideas of Leopold. They failed both for lack of capital and for the reaction of Spanish pride. But they show, in Leopold II, the progress of the colonial idea with all the aspects that will then be found in the Congolese affair. When Henry Morton Stanley discovered the Congo, Leopold was ready.”

CongoLeopold IiCongo Free StateHenry Morton StanleyBelgian ColonialismBelgian Colonial EmpireBelgian EmpireJules Greindl
Book:A la recherche d'un Etat Independent: Léopold II et les Philippines
Create image

“Stanley raamde met wat hij zag langs de Congostroom en zijrivieren het bewonersaantal van het bekken op 40 miljoen, een cijfer dat hij in de Franse vertaling halveerde, en die gefantaseerde bevolkingsberg is medio de twintigste eeuw, door ernstig demografisch onderzoek, geslonken tot 10 à 15 miljoen.”

CongoLeopold IiHenry Morton Stanley
Book:The Greatest Fake News of All Time: Leopold II, The Genius and Builder King of Lumumba
Create image

“Het hart van Afrika belandde pas later, bijna stoemelings, in zijn schoot. Toen de Britten ontdekkingsreiziger Henry Morton Stanley wandelen stuurden, huurde hij hem in om handelsposten naast de huidige Congostroom in te palmen. Op zijn kenmerkend sluwe manier – zijn vader vergeleek hem als kind al met een vos die eerst alle opties onderzoekt voor hij de rivier oversteekt – bleef hij er de koloniale grootmachten een stapje voor.”

CongoLeopold IiHenry Morton Stanley
Book:Leopold II: Het hele verhaal
Create image

“Ik heb het geschreven contract tussen de van Leopold II en Tippo Tip opgenomen in mijn boek. Het is een uniek document. Het zegt alles over de toenmalige krachtsverhoudingen in Afrika. De slavenlegers waren sterker op dat moment. Omwille van realpolitik sloot hij daarom een verbond met de duivel. Hij benoemde Tippo Tip zelfs tot gouverneur van Stanley Falls. Hypocriet was dat. Op hetzelfde moment ijverde hij hier arm in arm met de Franse kardinaal Lavigerie tégen de slavernij. Uiteindelijk maakte hij daar ook wel komaf mee, maar de weg ernaartoe liep niet over rozen.”

CongoLeopold IiHenry Morton StanleyTippu TipTippo Tip
Book:Leopold II: Het hele verhaal
Create image

“Only by proving that we are superior to the savages, not only through our power to kill them but through our entire way of life, can we control them as they are now, in their present stage; it is necessary for their own well-being, even more than ours. (Stanley writes this on his first expidition commissioned by King Leopold II of Belgium after describing with horror the horrible scenes of atrocities and cannibalism that take place in the Congo.)”

CongoLeopold IiCongo Free StateBelgian CongoHenry Morton Stanley
Book:Through the Dark Continent:Volume 1
Create image

“He [Stanley] had stated that he longed to do something wonderful for the African tribes along the Congo, and instead, as would become all too apparent, had set them up for a terrible fate. In 1877 he came down the great river as the first European ever to do so, declaring his hope that the Congo should become like `a torch to those who sought to do good'." Instead, it became the torch that attracted the archexploiter King Leopold II of Belgium.”

ExplorationAfricaCongoColonisationHenry Morton Stanley
Book:Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer
Create image

“Stanley must have realized that this postponement would probably be fatal. But while he did not give up, he never for a moment thought of abandoning his African quest [...] Yet Stanley still longed for the security of marriage, and hoped he could find Livingstone and marry Katie. [...] The romantic side of his nature told him that their story ought to end in marriage: the workhouse boy, having distinguished himself beyond all expectations, weds the daughter of the respectable local gentleman, and they live happily ever afterwards in a big house [...] But Katie had never understood his inner conviction of being chosen for a great task.”

HistoryExplorationAfricaCongoHenry Morton Stanley
Book:Stanley: The Impossible Life of Africa's Greatest Explorer
Create image