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2d14cb9
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Deep down the fear of a man who lives in a world not made for him, whose own world is slipping away, dying, being destroyed, beyond any recall.
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Alan Paton |
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11e7217
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Nothing is every quiet, except for fools.
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Alan Paton |
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e3e4c8c
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Meneer, said the captain, if man takes unto himself God's right to punish, then he must also take upon himself God's promise to restore.
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restore
punish
restoration
punishment
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Alan Paton |
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7224017
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Stand unshod upon it, for the ground is holy, being even as it came from the Creator. Keep it, guard it, care for it, for it keeps men, guards men, cares for men. Destroy it and man is destroyed.
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Alan Paton |
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0dc7523
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And that next day, he was in the black mood, what we call the swartgalligheid, which is the black gall. And the heart is black too, and the world is black, and one can tell oneself that it will pass, but these are only words that one speaks to oneself, for while it is there it is no comfort that it will pass.
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Alan Paton |
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2db5e3d
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Nothing is ever quiet, except for fools.
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speak-up
quiet
fools
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Alan Paton |
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3b37b97
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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.
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alan-paton
cry-the-beloved-country
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Alan Paton |
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c4901c2
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They must go on, said Msimangu gravely. You cannot stop the world from going on. My friend, I am a Christian. It is not in my heart to hate a white man. It was a white man who brought my father out of darkness. But you will pardon me if I talk frankly to you. The tragedy is not that things are broken. The tragedy is that they are not mended again. The white man has broken the tribe. And it is my belief -- and again I ask your pardon -- that..
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Alan Paton |
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799f39d
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S]orrow is better than fear. For fear impoverishes always, while sorrow may enrich ... Sorrow is better than fear. Fear is a journey, a terrible journey, but sorrow is at least an arriving.
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Alan Paton |
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6fbf91b
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The Judge does not make the Law. It is the 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. It is the duty of a Judge to do justice, but it is only the People who can be just.
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Alan Paton |
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53b21f9
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Aye, but the hand that had murdered had once pressed the mother's breast into the thirsting mouth, had stolen into the father's hand when they went out into the dark. Aye, but the murderer afraid of death had once been a child afraid of the night.
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Alan Paton |
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e997d3a
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It is the duty of a judge to do justice, but it is only the people who can be just
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Alan Paton |
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56f2001
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His son had gone astray in the great city, where so many others had gone astray before him, and where many others would go astray after him, until there was found some great secret that as yet no man had discovered.
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Alan Paton |
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cda3e7f
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There are many sides to this difficult problem. And people persist in discussing soil-erosion, and tribal decay, and lack of schools, and crime, as though they were all parts of the matter. If you think long enough about it, you will be brought to consider republics, and bilingualism, and immigration, and Palestine, and God knows what. So in a way it is best not to think about it at all.
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Alan Paton |
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f4f1ea8
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The humble man reached in his pocket for his sacred book, and began to read. It was this world alone that was certain.
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Alan Paton |
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a7650f3
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The tragedy is not that things are broken. The tragedy is that they are not mended again.
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Alan Paton |
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4146beb
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Have no doubt it is fear in the land. For what can men do when so many have grown lawless? Who can enjoy the lovely land, who can enjoy the seventy years, and the sun that pours down on the earth, when there is fear in the heart? Who can walk quietly in the shadow of the jacarandas, when their beauty is grown to danger? Who can lie peacefully abed, while the darkness holds some secret? What lovers can lie sweetly under the stars, when menac..
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Alan Paton |
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d4c39ae
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He was reluctant to open it, for once such a thing is opened, it cannot be shut again.
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Alan Paton |
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4341207
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He went out of the door, and she watched him through the little window, walking slowly to the door of the church. Then she sat down at his table, and put her head on it, and was silent, with the patient suffering of black women, with the suffering of oxen, with the suffering of any that are mute.
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Alan Paton |
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18ab1a9
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And what was there evil in their desires, in their hunger? That men should walk upright in the land where they were born, and be free to use the fruits of the earth, what was there evil in it? Yet men were afraid, with a fear that was deep, deep in the heart, a fear so deep that they hid their kindness, or brought it out with fierceness and anger, and hid it behind fierce and frowning eyes. They were afraid because they were so few. And suc..
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Alan Paton |
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0cb7f6d
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I say we shall always have native crime to fear until the native people of this country have worthy goals to work for. For it is only because they see neither purpose nor goal that they turn to drink and crime and prostitution. Which do we prefer, a law-abiding, industrious and purposeful native people, or a lawless, idle and purposeless people? The truth is that we do not know, for we fear them both. And so long as we vacillate, so long wi..
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Alan Paton |
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797f9cf
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We do what is in us, and why it is in us, that is also a secret. It is Christ in us, crying that men may be succoured and forgiven, even when He Himself is forsaken.
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Alan Paton |
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5c02b2b
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I shall do this, not because I am noble or unselfish, but because life slips away, and because I need for the rest of my journey a star that will not play false to me, a compass that will not lie.
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Alan Paton |
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9394b3a
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It is my own belief that the only power which can resistthe power of fear is the power of love. It's a weak thing anda tender thing; men despise and deride it. But I look for theday when in South Africa we shall realize that the only last-ing and worth-while solution of our grave and profoundproblems lies not in the use of power, but in that under-standing and compassion without which human life is anintolerable bondage, condemning us all t..
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Alan Paton |
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3674bf9
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Aye, even the name of a river that runs no more. Who indeed knows the secret of the earthly pilgrimage? Who knows for what we live, and struggle, and die? Who knows what keeps us living and struggling, while all things break about us? Who knows why the warm flesh of a child is such comfort, when one's own child is lost and cannot be recovered? Wise men write many books, in words too hard to understand. But this, the purpose of our lives, th..
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Alan Paton |
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ae790ca
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They stopped at one of these half-tank houses ... where they were greeted by a young girl, who herself seemed like no more than a child. - We have come to enquire after Absalom ... Have you heard nothing from him? Nothing, she said. When will he return? he asked. I do not know, she said. Will he ever return? he asked, indifferently, carelessly. I do not know she said. She said it tonelessly, hopelessly, as one who is used to waiting, to d..
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Alan Paton |
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364f365
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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.
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south-africa
patriotism
pride
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Alan Paton |
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e01329c
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They say that higher wages will cause the mines to close down. Then what is it worth, this mining industry? And why should it be kept alive, if it is only our poverty that keeps it alive? They say it makes the country rich, but what do we see of these riches? Is it we that must be kept poor so that others may stay rich?
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Alan Paton |
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31a7033
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Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is 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 of all if he gives too much.
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Alan Paton |
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dfea503
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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.
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Alan Paton |
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c568c70
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I am not kind. I am a selfish and sinful man, but God put his hands on me, that is all.
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Alan Paton |
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c19d7d5
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We are grateful for the saints, he says, who lift up the heart in the days of our distress. Would we do less? For do we less, there are no saints to lift up any heart. If Christ be Christ he says, true Lord of Heaven, true Lord of Men, what is there that we would not do no matter what our suffering may be?
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Alan Paton |
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df4a4b9
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Then he gave himself over to deep and earnest prayer, and after each petition he raised his eyes and looked to the east. And the east lightened and lightened, till he knew that the time was not far off. And when he expected it, he rose to his feet and took off his hat and laid it down on the earth, and clasped his hands before him. And while he stood there the sun rose in the east.
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Alan Paton |
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9c43964
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He had come to tell his brother that power corrupts, that a man who fights for justice must himself be cleansed and purified, that love is greater than force. And none of these things had he done. God have mercy on me, Christ have mercy on me. He turned to the door, but it was locked and bolted. Brother had shut out brother, from the same womb had they come.
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Alan Paton |
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366757c
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They were silent till the man passed, and then Kumalo said, in all my days I have known no one as you are. And Msimangu said sharply, I am a weak and sinful man, but God put His hands on me, that is all.
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Alan Paton |
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e85cbd5
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Tomorrow they would all go home, all except his son. And he would stay in the place where they would put him, in the great prison in Pretoria, in the barred and solitary cell; and mercy failing, would stay there till he was hanged. Aye, but the hand that had murdered had once pressed the mother's breast into the thirsting mouth, had stolen into the father's hand when they went out into the dark. Aye, but the murderer afraid of death had onc..
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Alan Paton |