‘The best thanks I can give to Tanzanians … is to make a new promise. It is that I will continue to work for our country and its people with all my heart and to the best of my ability; and that as an individual and as Chairman of our Party I will give unstinting loyalty, respect and assistance to my successor according to the Constitution of our nation. I shall always continue to work with all my colleagues to build and to consolidate our policy of Socialism and Self-reliance. To pass on the tongs is to sustain and perpetuate the blacksmithery.’ Julius Nyerere – Farewell Address to Parliament

‘The single most important task … which I set out in my inaugural address in December 1962 was that of building a united nation on the basis of human equality and dignity … I believe I can say without hesitation that in this most basic of all our objectives we have, after less than 25 years, great reason for pride. We do have a nation – a united nation. We do have a nation based on the principles of human equality. And we have made great progress towards making that equality a reality.’
Julius Nyerere, Farewell Address to Parliament, 29th July 1985

‘The vital necessity for increasing self-reliance as a method of development as well as an objective of development is now absolutely clear … we now know the bad effects of anger or enthusiasm flaring up and dying out like a flame and which takes no account of the interconnections of different aspects of development . . . we have recognised that it is false economy to ignore the upkeep of investments already made . . . And we have learned also that when you have decided on the top priority of one sector or aspect of development, that has to be given top priority in action and the allocation of resources … In other words, To Plan is To Choose.’
Farewell Address to Parliament

‘The new university graduate … really does not know what it is like to live as a poor peasant . . . he will often find that his parents and relatives support his own conception of his difference and regard it as wrong that he should live and work as the ordinary person he really is … many people in Tanzania have come to regard education as meaning that a man is too precious for the rough and hard life which the masses of our people still live.’
Education for Self-Reliance 1967

‘Our strategy has been that of socialism. We have fought against the exploitation of man by man … ‘ … the ratio of urban disposable personal income after tax has changed from an estimated 18.8 to 1 in 1962, through 15.7 to 1 in 1966 and 4.9 to 1 last year. This means that in 1962 the highest income was nearly nineteen times that of the lowest; last year the highest was nearly five times the minimum wage. This is a big step forward.’
Farewell Address to Parliament

‘The proposal coming before this Summit Meeting is that we should seek an international conference on Africa’s debt problem. But the important thing is that Africa should act in unity in relation to Africa’s creditors. This is essential, for our creditors do act together in the Paris Club and under the leadership of the IMF. Surely, if the strong recognise the need to work together in their dealings with the poor, the latter should not feel ashamed or embarrassed to do the same in their dealings with the rich …. For without unity there is no real survival for Africa.’
21st Summit Meeting of the Organisation of African Unity, 1985

‘Thirty-six sticks of wood might each break under the weight of a heavy burden; but what if those thirty-six sticks of wood are bound together? Then the burden can be carried safely and every single stick remain whole. These things we know; our people know them in their everyday lives. The leaders of Africa know them too.’
State Visit to Mali, April 1965

‘We have learned how to walk by beginning to walk. We have learned how to develop our country by trying to develop it. We never pretended to have any special wisdom about the means of developing our country; we just knew where we were trying to get to. It is not surprising, therefore, that sometimes we made false starts, or mistakes. We have not always foreseen problems of which we needed to be aware. But we have had the courage and the wisdom to do what could be done to correct our mistakes, or deal with the problems as soon as we recognise them. And because of the unity we have built up and maintained despite all the recent hardships, we can be confident that on the basis of our past experience we shall be able further to develop ourselves and our country.’
Farewell Address to Parliament