En Afrique, quand un vieillard meurt, c'est une bibliothèque qui brûle.
“In Africa, when an old man dies, it is a library that burns.”
When an elder dies without their knowledge being recorded, an entire lifetime of oral memory and tradition is lost forever.
— Amadou Hampâté Bâ, Mali
Source: Amadou Hampâté Bâ, address to the UNESCO General Conference, Paris (1 December 1960)
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