Ask yourself not if this or that is expedient, but if it is right.
Alan PatonRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote reflects a deep concern for the future and the emotional burdens placed on the next generation.
Alan Paton's quote expresses a poignant message about the fears and emotional weights that can be inherited by future generations. It highlights the tension between appreciating the beauty of the earth and the fear of losing it, suggesting that excessive attachment and love for nature may lead to suffering and disappointment. The call to 'cry' suggests mourning for a future that may be burdened by these fears, urging a balance between love and caution.
Themes
FearLoveNatureFutureSacrificeInheritor
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about environmental protection to emphasize the responsibility we have towards future generations.
More from Alan Paton
All quotes →One day in Johannesburg, and already the tribe was being rebuilt, the house and soul being restored.
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What broke in a man when he could bring himself to kill another? What broke when he could bring himself to thrust down the knife into the warm flesh, to bring down the axe on the living head, to cleave down between the seeing eyes, to shoot the gun that would drive death into the beating heart?
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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 PatonRead
If you wrote a novel in South Africa which didn't concern the central issues, it wouldn't be worth publishing.
Alan PatonRead
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 PatonRead
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