Alan Paton
Alan Paton
Alan Stewart Patonwas a South African author and anti-apartheid activist...
NationalitySouth African
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth11 January 1903
life wise struggle
Who knows for what we live, and struggle, and die?... Wise men write many books, in words too hard to understand. But this, the purpose of our lives, the end of all our struggle, is beyond all human wisdom.
strong rich weak
Let me not be afraid to defend the weak because of the anger of the strong, nor afraid to defend the poor because of the anger of the rich.
fall dark white
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
journey men house
Sorrow is better than fear. Fear is a journey,a terrible journey, but sorrow is at least an arrival. When the storm threatens, a man is afraid for his house. But when the house is destroyed, there is something to do. About a storm he can do nothing, but he can rebuild a house.
school hard-work church
But perhaps when you were too obedient, and did not do openly what others did, and were quiet in church and hard-working at school, then some unknown rebellion brewed in you, doing harm to you, though how I do not understand.
love men one-thing
But the one thing that has power completely is love, because when a man loves, he seeks no power, and therefore he has power.
secret dawn cry-the-beloved-country
But when the dawn will come, of our emancipation, from the fear of bondage and the bondage of fear, why, that is a secret.
giving-up responsibility men
To give up the task of reforming society is to give up one's responsibility as a free man.
names rivers cry-the-beloved-country
Now God be thanked that the name of a hill is such music, that the name of a river can heal.
law justice judging
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.
Although nothing has come yet, something is here already.
house soul one-day
One day in Johannesburg, and already the tribe was being rebuilt, the house and soul being restored.
country children giving
Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply... For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much.
men names add
It is not permissible to add to one's possesions if these things can only be done at the cost of other men. Such development has only one true name, and that is exploitation.