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.
One can find so many pains when the rain is falling.
We die daily. Happy those who daily come to life as well.
It is utterly false and cruelly arbitrary... to put all the play and learning into childhood, all the work into middle age, and all the regrets into old age.
The loss of my childhood was the price for becoming the youngest world champion in history. When you have to fight every day from a young age, your soul can be contaminated. I lost my childhood. I never really had it. Today I have to be careful not to become cruel, because I became a soldier too early.
The trick, my brethren and sisters is to enjoy the journey, traveling hand in hand, in sunshine and storm, as companions who love one another.
So many years of preparation, for what was called adult life: was it for this?
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