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.
Interpretation
Life is fleeting, and one requires guidance that is truthful and unwavering for the journey ahead.
In this quote, Alan Paton emphasizes the transient nature of life, suggesting that as it passes quickly, it's essential to seek a guiding principle or belief that remains steadfast. The imagery of a star and a compass signifies the need for reliable direction and truthfulness in one's life choices and experiences, implying that such guidance is crucial for navigating the complexities of existence.
In practice
This quote could be shared during a graduation speech to inspire graduates as they begin their life journeys.
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.
When we talk about having a life of significance and meaning, it's not about fame or money or resources. It's about people and lives and hearts. That's my biggest passion in life.
I'm tired and I want to rest; I want to get out of this and go lie down somewhere, off where it's dark and no one speaks. Forever.
We spend a good part of our lives dreaming, especially when we're awake.
Death is a challenge. It tells us not to waste time... It tells us to tell each other right now that we love each other.
For now they kill me with a living death.
To fulfill a dream, to be allowed to sweat over lonely labor, to be given a chance to create, is the meat and potatoes of life. The money is the gravy.
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