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Alan Paton QUOTES

Alan Paton QUOTES

1 " I have always found that actively loving
saves one from a morbid preoccupation
with the shortcomings of society. "

― Alan Paton

2 " There is only one way in which one can endure man's inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one's own life, to exemplify man's humanity to man. "

― Alan Paton

3 " There's a hard law, mejuffrou, that when a deep injury is done to us, we never recover until we forgive. "

― Alan Paton , Too Late the Phalarope

4 " — This world is full of trouble, umfundisi.
— Who knows it better?
— Yet you believe?
Kumalo looked at him under the light of the lamp. I believe, he said, but I have learned that it is a secret. Pain and suffering, they are a secret. Kindness and love, they are a secret. But I have learned that kindness and love can pay for pain and suffering. There is my wife, and you, my friend, and these people who welcomed me, and the child who is so eager to be with us here in Ndotsheni – so in my suffering I can believe.
— I have never thought that a Christian would be free of suffering, umfundisi. For our Lord suffered. And I come to believe that he suffered, not to save us from suffering, but to teach us how to bear suffering. For he knew that there is no life without suffering.
Kumalo looked at his friend with joy. You are a preacher, he said. "

― Alan Paton , Cry, the Beloved Country

5 " He pondered long over this, for might not another man, returning to another valley, have found none of these things? Why was it given to one man to have his pain transmuted into gladness? Why was it given to one man to have such an awareness of God? "

― Alan Paton , Cry, the Beloved Country

6 " When I go up there, which is my intention, the Big Judge will say to me, “Where are your wounds?” and if I say I haven’t any, he will say, “Was there nothing to fight for?” I couldn’t face that question. "

― Alan Paton

7 " In the meantime the strike is over, with a remarkably low loss of life. All is quiet, they report, all is quiet.

In the deserted harbour there is yet water that laps against the quays. In the dark and silent forest there is a leaf that falls. Behind the polished panelling the white ant eats away the wood. Nothing is ever quiet, except for fools. "

― Alan Paton , Cry, the Beloved Country

8 " But to punish and not to restore, that is the greatest of all offences. "

― Alan Paton , Too Late the Phalarope

9 " - Mr. Berg, Are you an Afrikaner?
- Yes
-And are you proud of it?
-I am not ashamed of it, but I am not proud of it, for in fact I had nothing to do with it. "

― Alan Paton , Ah But Your Land Is Beautiful

10 " Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that's the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are singing. Nor give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley. For fear will rob him if he gives too much. "

― Alan Paton , Cry, the Beloved Country

11 " All roads lead to Johannesburg. If you are white or if you are black they lead to Johannesburg. If the crops fail, there is work in Johannesburg. If there are taxes to be paid, there is work in Johannesburg. If the farm is too small to be divided further, some must go to Johannesburg. If there is a child to be born that must be delivered in secret, it can be delivered in Johannesburg. "

― Alan Paton , Cry, the Beloved Country

12 " Indeed, there is something in this valley, some spirit and some life, and much to talk about in the huts. Although nothing has come yet, something is here already. "

― Alan Paton , Cry, the Beloved Country

13 " The tragedy is not that things are broken. The tragedy is that they are not mended again. "

― Alan Paton , Cry, the Beloved Country

14 " The tragedy is not that things are broken. The tragedy is that things are not mended again. "

― Alan Paton , Cry, the Beloved Country

15 " But there is only one thing that has power completely, and this is love. Because when a man loves, he seeks no power, and therefore he has power. "

― Alan Paton , Cry, the Beloved Country

16 " I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving, they will find that we are turned to hating. "

― Alan Paton , Cry, the Beloved Country

17 " Pain and suffering, they are a secret. Kindness and love, they are a secret. But I have learned that kindness and love can pay for pain and suffering. "

― Alan Paton , Cry, the Beloved Country

18 " I have never thought that a Christian would be free of suffering, umfundisi. For our Lord suffered. And I come to believe that he suffered, not to save us from suffering, but to teach us how to bear suffering. For he knew that there is no life without suffering. "

― Alan Paton , Cry, the Beloved Country

19 " The truth is, our civilization is not Christian; it is a tragic compound of great ideal and fearful practice, of loving charity and fearful clutching of possessions. "

― Alan Paton , Cry, the Beloved Country

20 " The Judge does not make the law. It is people that make the law. Therefore if a law is unjust, and if the Judge judges according to the law, that is justice, even if it is not just. "

― Alan Paton , Cry, the Beloved Country