Leopold:
"Leopold would not always be cautions; at times he would overreach himself or reveal too much about what prey he was after. But there was something fox-like about the manner in which this constitutional monarch of a small, increasingly democratic country became the totalitarian ruler of a vast empire on another continent. Stealth and dissembling would be his trusted devices, just as the fox relies on those qualities to survive in a world of hunters and larger beasts" (Hochschild 35).
Stanley:
"Always anxious about his reception in the upper reaches of society, Stanley never forgot that courtiers of the King of the Belgians - a baron and general, no less - had sought him out on his return to Europe" (59).
Affirm:
"If he was to seize anything in Africa, he could do so only if he convinced everyone that his interest was purely altruistic" (46).
I agree with this. There was no public support for colonizing Africa simply to gain more land, so Leopold had to convince the Belgians that it was for a purely selfless reason, that it was only to help civilize those savages unfortunate enough to need help. He couldn't let his real motives be seen because that would just work to his disadvantage. He had to be seen as truly selfless.
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