But when the dawn will come, of our emancipation, from the fear of bondage and the bondage of fear, why, that is a secret.
Interpretation
True freedom comes from overcoming both fear of being trapped and the reality of feeling trapped.
In this quote, Alan Paton reflects on the complex nature of freedom and the fears that bind us. He suggests that emancipation is not merely about escaping physical bondage, but also about releasing ourselves from the psychological chains of fear that dictate our lives. The 'dawn' symbolizes a new understanding or realization that will reveal the path to true freedom, which remains elusive and mysterious.
In practice
This quote can inspire a speech about overcoming personal fears.
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.
Ask yourself not if this or that is expedient, but if it is right.
One day in Johannesburg, and already the tribe was being rebuilt, the house and soul being restored.
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?
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.
If you wrote a novel in South Africa which didn't concern the central issues, it wouldn't be worth publishing.
It has often occurred to me that a seeker after truth has to be silent.
I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them.
For years I wondered why dreams are so often dull when related, and this morning I find the answer, which is very simple - like most answers, you have always known it: No context ... like a stuffed animal set on the floor of a bank.
I got a label because I was Hispanic and a woman and [therefore] I had to be liberal.
No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.
The more we try to live in the world of words, the more we feel isolated and alone, the more all the joy and liveliness of things is exchanged for mere certainty and security. On the other hand, the more we are forced to admit that we actually live in the real world, the more we feel ignorant, uncertain, and insecure about everything.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.