Alan Paton Quotes
Who knows for what we live, and struggle, and die? Wise men write many books, in words too hard to understand. But this, the purpose of our lives, the end of all our struggle, is beyond all human wisdom.
Quotes to Explore
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The only thing worse than an active conscience is one that's retroactive.
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It seems to me that trying to live without friends is like milking a bear to get cream for your morning coffee. It is a whole lot of trouble, and then not worth much after you get it.
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The modern economy is becoming a place where women hold the cards.
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Conspiracies, since they cannot be engaged in without the fellowship of others, are for that reason most perilous; for as most men are either fools or knaves, we run excessive risk in making such folk our companions.
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Show business is one of those things that people can use to get themselves out of the lower rung of society.
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When you were on stage, you could be absolutely open about your emotions and indulge them and express yourself in a way that - in real life - I wasn't doing.
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There's definitely a whole different vibe on the set when there's like basically royalty working with us. We could have whatever we wanted. I felt like Britney Spears.
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In the world of language, or in other words in the world of art and liberal education, religion necessarily appears as mythology or as Bible.
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To mistrust science and deny the validity of scientific method is to resign your job as a human. You'd better go look for work as a plant or wild animal.
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Let the path be open to talent.
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There is hope and a kind of beauty in there somewhere, if you look for it.
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This is my trademark: I rip my T-shirt. I'm into the whole showing-a-bit-of-chest-hair thing.
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Workplaces still operate like it's 1962 and one person is always at home, and they are not very good at adjusting for the fact that a majority of women work and take care of children.
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We the voice of the young world. We the voice of the people.
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I prefer the countryside to cities. This is also true of my films: I have made more films in rural societies, and villages, than in towns.
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I am going to confront the old-fashioned negative thinking which says that all government needs to do to generate growth is cut worker and environmental protections, cut taxes on the rich and stroke 'fat cats' until they purr with pleasure. I'm completely repudiating the idea that government has to get out of the way.
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The American dream is more about opportunity than anything else.
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Oh how I wish I could be as obsessive as Carrie from 'Homeland' when I'm writing a book! That would save me a lot of trouble during the revision process.
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One of the reasons I love writing for middle graders, besides their voracious appetite for books, is their deep concern for fairness and morality.
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There's no serious considerations for doing that. But I don't think you ever rule it out.
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Somehow, in the novel format, I don't really like to do upfront, ideological discussion. In my heart, literature remains a poetic and ambiguous medium. On the other hand, I trained as a documentary filmmaker in film school, so my films very much reflect reality and socio-political problems. They're less subtle I would say.
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To say that I could manipulate one of the men who has shown the most courage before the Cuban government, who gets beaten every day, who did a hunger strike that freed political prisoners... I think that's absurd.
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Who knows for what we live, and struggle, and die? Wise men write many books, in words too hard to understand. But this, the purpose of our lives, the end of all our struggle, is beyond all human wisdom.
