I always wanted to leave home. I never knew they were going to stop me from coming back. Maybe, if I knew, I never would have left. It is kind of painful to be away from everything that you've ever know. Nobody will know the pain of exile until you are in exile. No matter where you go, there are times when people show you kindness and love, and there are times when they make you know that you are with them but not of them. That's when it hurts.

As quoted in Bordowitz, Hank (2004). "Miriam Makeba". Noise of the World: Non-western Musicians in their Own Words. Brooklyn, NY: Soft Skull. p. 247. ISBN 1932360603. OCLC 56809540.