Alan Paton Quotes

Quotes about:

Children Country Earth Giving Heart Hills Journey

What broke in a man when he could bring himself to kill another?

Alan Paton

Men, Killing Each Other, Violence

Alan Paton (2003). “Cry, the Beloved Country”, p.79, Simon and Schuster

57 Copy quote
It is not "forgive and forget" as if nothing wrong had ever happened, but "forgive and go forward," building on the mistakes of the past and the energy generated by reconciliation to create a new future.

Alan Paton

Moving On, Forgiveness, Mistake

98 Copy quote
The only way in which one can make endurable man's inhumanity to man, and man's destruction of his own environment, is to exemplify in your own lives man's humanity to man and man's reverence for the place in which he lives.

Alan Paton

Men, Inhumanity To Man, Way

Alan Paton, Colin Oxenham Gardner (1975). “Knocking on the Door”, David Philip Publishers

25 Copy quote
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. (Ah, But Your Land Is Beautiful)

Alan Paton

Beautiful, Fighting, Land

9 Copy quote
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

Running, Country, Children

Felicia Komai, Alan Paton (1955). “Cry, the beloved country: a verse drama”

36 Copy quote
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.

Alan Paton

Journey, Men, House

Alan Paton (2003). “Cry, the Beloved Country”, p.98, Simon and Schuster

25 Copy quote
When a deep injury is done us, we never recover until we forgive.

Alan Paton

Forgiveness, Forgiving, Done

Alan Paton (2011). “Too Late The Phalarope”, p.278, Simon and Schuster

31 Copy quote
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.

Alan Paton

Strong, Rich, Poor

25 Copy quote
To give up the task of reforming society is to give up one's responsibility as a free man.

Alan Paton

Giving Up, Responsibility, Men

28 Copy quote
I envision someday a great, peaceful South Africa in which the world will take pride, a nation in which each of many different groups will be making its own creative contribution.

Alan Paton

Love, Peace, Pride

28 Copy quote
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

Christian, Believe, Suffering

Alan Paton (2003). “Cry, the Beloved Country”, p.204, Simon and Schuster

9 Copy quote
I have always found that actively loving saves one from a morbid preoccupation with the shortcomings of society.

Alan Paton

Morbid, Preoccupation, Found

19 Copy quote
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.

Alan Paton

Hard Work, School, Church

Alan Paton (2011). “Too Late The Phalarope”, p.94, Simon and Schuster

24 Copy quote
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.

Alan Paton

Life, Wise, Wisdom

Alan Paton (2003). “Cry, the Beloved Country”, p.57, Simon and Schuster

23 Copy quote
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.

Alan Paton

Men, Names, Add

ALAN PATON (1968). “Cry, the Beloved Country”

22 Copy quote
Sorrow is better than fear. Fear is a journey, a terrible journey. But, sorrow is at least an arriving.

Alan Paton

Journey, Sorrow, Arriving

Alan Paton (2003). “Cry, the Beloved Country”, p.98, Simon and Schuster

20 Copy quote
But the one thing that has power completely is love, because when a man loves, he seeks no power, and therefore he has power.

Alan Paton

Love, Men, One Thing

19 Copy quote
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

Christian, Country, Practice

Alan Paton (2003). “Cry, the Beloved Country”, p.141, Simon and Schuster

16 Copy quote
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

Life, Inspiring, Men

"Power Verbs for Career Consultants, Coaches, and Mentors". Book by Michael Lawrence Faulkner (p.126), 2013.

4 Copy quote
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

Fall, Dark, White

Alan Paton (1950). “Cry, the beloved country”, Charles Scribner's Sons

16 Copy quote
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

Law, People, Justice

ALAN PATON (1968). “Cry, the Beloved Country”

15 Copy quote
There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it.

Alan Paton

Running, Lovely, Singing

Alan Paton (2003). “Cry, the Beloved Country”, p.2, Simon and Schuster

11 Copy quote
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.

Alan Paton

Country, Children, Giving

Felicia Komai, Alan Paton (1955). “Cry, the beloved country: a verse drama”

11 Copy quote
We do not work for men. We work for the land and the people. We do not even work for money.

Alan Paton

Men, Land, People

8 Copy quote
St. Francis of Assisi taught me that there is a wound in the Creation and that the greatest use we could make of our lives was to ask to be made a healer of it.

Alan Paton

St Francis Of Assisi, Use, Taught

6 Copy quote

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Born: January 11, 1903
Died: April 12, 1988
Occupation: Author
Cite this Page: Citation

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