I am a weak and sinful man, but God put His hands on me, that is all.
Interpretation
This quote reflects humility and acknowledgment of divine influence in one's life despite personal flaws.
In this quote, Alan Paton expresses a profound sense of personal weakness and imperfection while recognizing the transformative power of God's presence. It highlights the idea that one's flaws do not diminish their worth or capability, and that divine grace can elevate and guide individuals towards a greater purpose, regardless of their sinful nature.
In practice
This quote can be shared during a church sermon to emphasize the power of grace.
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.
An awareness of death encourages us to live more intensely.
Desire itself is movement_x000D_ _x000D_ Not in itself desirable;_x000D_ _x000D_ Love is itself unmoving,_x000D_ _x000D_ Only the cause and end of movement,_x000D_ _x000D_ Timeless, and undesiring_x000D_ _x000D_ Except in the aspect of time_x000D_ _x000D_ Caught in the form of limitation_x000D_ _x000D_ Between un-being and being.
The Christian world is in a deep sleep; nothing but a loud shout can awaken them out of it!
When the highwayman holds his gun to your head, you turn your valuables over to him. You 'consent' alright, but you do so because you cannot help yourself, because you are compelled by his gun. Are you not compelled to work for an employer? Your need compels you, just as the highwayman's gun.
There is magic in my universe, but it's pretty low magic compared to other fantasies.
In its majestic equality, the law forbids rich and poor alike to sleep under bridges, beg in the streets and steal loaves of bread.
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