Quote

I think in Somali, I cuss in Somali, when I'm afraid I reach for somali and this language is very rich, very filling. It's an unflinching language the crudest most terrible things sound perfectly normal in Somali.

Warsan Shire

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Warsan Shire
Age: 36
Born: 1988
Born: January 1
Poet
Writer
Republic of Kenya
Sound
Unflinching
Language
Filling
Things
Perfectly
Think
Reach
Thinking
Normal
Afraid
Crudest
Terrible
Somali
Rich
Cuss

More quotes by Warsan Shire

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My name is indigenous to my country, it is not easy to pronounce, it takes effort to say correctly and I am absolutely in love with the sound of it and its meaning. Also, it's not the kind of name you baby, slip into sweet talk mid sentence, late night phone conversation, whisper into the receiver kind of name, so, of that I am glad.
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I belong deeply to myself.
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Apathy is the same as war, it all kills you, she says. Slow like cancer in the breast or fast like a machete in the neck.
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You can't make homes out of human beings.
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Give your daughters difficult names. Give your daughters names that command the full use of the tongue. My name makes you want to tell me the truth. My name doesn't allow me to trust anyone that cannot pronounce it right.
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Perhaps, the problem is not the intensity of your love, but the quality of the people you are loving.
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You are terrifying, and strange, and beautiful. Something not everyone knows how to love.
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Two people who were once very close can without blame or grand betrayal become strangers. Perhaps this is the saddest thing in the world.
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I won't glorify or romanticise heartbreak, for me it was a kind of death and I was forced to keep living.
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The ego hurts you like this: you become obsessed with the one person who does not love you. blind to the rest who do.
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I have my mother’s mouth and my father’s eyes on my face they are still together.
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To my daughter I will say, ‘when the men come, set yourself on fire.’
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Mother says there are locked rooms inside all women, kitchen of love, bedroom of grief, bathroom of apathy. Sometimes, the men, they come with keys, and sometimes the men, they come with hammers.
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My favourite people, biggest inspirations and closest friends are all women. Not a coincidence.
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I’m overwhelmed. My biggest downfall is my brightest blessing, I feel too much, all the time. Ya Allah, if it’ll keep my heart soft, break my heart every day.
Warsan Shire
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My alone feels so good, I'll only have you if you're sweeter than my solitude.
Warsan Shire
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Light attracts light. But sometimes your light attracts moths and your warmth attracts parasites. Protect your space and energy
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My heart is a flower blossoming out of my mouth.
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It's not my responsibility to be beautiful. I'm not alive for that purpose. My existence is not about how desirable you find me.
Warsan Shire
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Document the moments you feel most in love with yourself - what you're wearing, who you're around, what you're doing. Recreate and repeat.
Warsan Shire