A Long Way Gone Quotes

“I knew I could never forget my past, but I wanted to stop talking about it so that I would be fully present in my new life.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

“I didn’t know what to do in my happy state. I was still hesitant to let myself let go, because I still believed in the fragility of happiness.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

“We danced and laughed into the morning. But gradually we stopped. It was as if we all knew that we could be happy for only a brief moment.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

“This isn’t your fault, you know. It really isn’t. You’ll get though this. (page 151)”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

“We all knew that we could grieve only for a short while in order to continue staying alive.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

“Circumstances will change and things will be fine, just hold on a little more”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

“This was one of the consequences of the civil war. People stopped trusting each other, and every stranger became an enemy.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

“We had not only lost our childhood in the war but our lives had been tainted by the same experiences that still caused us great pain and sadness.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

“It was not easy being a soldier, but we just had to do it. I have been rehabilitated now, so don’t be afraid of me. I am not a soldier anymore; I am a child.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

“We can be rehabilitated,” I would emphasize, and point to myself as an example. I would always tell people that I believe children have the resilience to outlive their sufferings, if given a chance.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

“When I was very little, my father used to say, “If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

“I will not be alive to see the end of this war. So, to save a place in your memories for other things, I won’t tell you my name. If you survive this war, just remember me as the old man you met. You boys should be on your way.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

“I feel like each time I accept death, part of me dies.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

“Even in the middle of the madness there remained that true and natural beauty, and it took my mind away from my current situation as I marveled at this sight.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

“The day seemed oddly normal. The sun peacefully sailed through the white clouds, birds sang from treetops, the trees danced to the quiet wind.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

“Bahkan di dalam kegilaan pun masih ada keindahan yang sejati dan alami”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

“One man carried his dead son. He thought the boy was still alive. The father was covered with his son's blood, and as he ran he kept saying, "I will get you to the hospital, my boy, everything will be fine." Perhaps it was necessary that he cling to false hopes, since they kept him running from harm.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

“I was so happy that my mother, father, and two brothers had somehow found one another. Perhaps my mother and father have gotten back together, I thought.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

“I AM PUSHING a rusty wheelbarrow in a town where the air smells of blood and burnt flesh. The breeze brings the faint cries of those whose last breaths are leaving their mangled bodies. I walk past them. Their arms and legs are missing; their intestines spill out through the bullet holes in their stomachs; brain matter comes out of their noses and ears. The flies are so excited and intoxicated that they fall on the pools of blood and die. The eyes of the nearly dead are redder than the blood that comes out of them, and it seems that their bones will tear through the skin of their taut faces at any minute. I turn my face to the ground to look at my feet. My tattered crapes are soaked with blood, which seems to be running down my army shorts. I feel no physical pain, so I am not sure whether I’ve been wounded. I can feel the warmth of my AK-47’s barrel on my back; I don’t remember when I last fired it. It feels as if needles have been hammered into my brain, and it is hard to be sure whether it is day or night. The wheelbarrow in front of me contains a dead body wrapped in white bedsheets. I do not know why I am taking this particular body to the cemetery. When I arrive at the cemetery, I struggle to lift it from the wheelbarrow; it feels as if the body is resisting. I carry it in my arms, looking for a suitable place to lay it to rest. My body begins to ache and I can’t lift a foot without feeling a rush of pain from my toes to my spine. I collapse on the ground and hold the body in my arms. Blood spots begin to emerge on the white bedsheets covering it. Setting the body on the ground, I start to unwrap it, beginning at the feet. All the way up to the neck, there are bullet holes. One bullet has crushed the Adam’s apple and sent the remains of it to the back of the throat. I lift the cloth from the body’s face. I am looking at my own.   I”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

“ولكني كنت اعلم لن فرص العودة للقرية ضئيلة
كما أننا ل�� نملك اي قدرة على التحكم في مستقبلنا
كنا نعرف فقط , كيف نب��ى على قيد الحياة”
― إشمائيل بيه, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

“Most of the staff members were like that; they returned smiling after we hurt them. It was as if they had made a pact not to give up on us.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

“I only liked talking to her because I felt that she didn’t judge me for what I had been a part of; she looked at me with the same inviting eyes and welcoming smile that said I was a child.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

“We must strive to be like the moon.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

“This isn’t your fault, you know. It really isn’t. You’ll get through this.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

“When I was very little, my father used to say, “If you are alive, there is hope for a better day and something good to happen. If there is nothing good left in the destiny of a person, he or she will die.” I thought about these words during my journey, and they kept me moving even when I didn’t know where I was going. Those words became the vehicle that drove my spirit forward and made it stay alive.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

“These days I lived in three worlds: my dreams, and the experiences of my new life, which triggered memories from the past.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

“To survive each passing day was my goal in life. At villages where we managed to find some happiness by being treated to food and fresh water, I knew it was temporary and that we were only passing through. So I couldn't bring myself to be completely happy. It was much easier to be sad than to go back and forth between emotions, and this gave me the determination I needed to keep moving. I was never disappointed, since I always expected the worst to happen.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

“Our innocence had been replaced by fear and we had become monsters. There was nothing we could do about it.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone

“How many more times do we have to come to terms with death before we find safety?”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier

“I believe children have the resilience to outlive their sufferings, if given a chance.”
― Ishmael Beah, A Long Way Gone