Cry, the beloved Country
Cry, the beloved Country (1948) is a novel by Alan Paton a South African novelist. It is a passionate tale of racial injustice that brought international attention to the problem of apartheid in South Africa.
Quotes
[edit]- I see only one hope for our country, and that is when white men and black men...desiring only the good of their country, come together to work for it...I have one great fear in my heart, that one day when they are turned to loving, they will find we are turned to hating.
- Msimangu,Chapter 7.
- All roads lead to Johannesburg.
- Chapter 9.
- Now God be thanked that the name of a hill is such music, that the name of a river can heal.
- Chapter 10.
- Who indeed knows the secret of the earthly pilgrimage? Who indeed knows why there can be comfort in a world of desolation.
- Stephen Chapter 10.
- This is no time to talk of hedges and fields, or the beauties of any country...Cry for the broken tribe, for the law and the custom that is gone. Aye, and cry aloud for the man who is dead, for the woman and children bereaved. Cry, the beloved country, these things are not yet at an end.
- Narrator, Chapter 11.
- And he was silent again, for who is not silent when someone is dead, who was a small bright boy?
- Kumalo, Chapter 11.
- Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is 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 of all if he gives too much.
- Narrator, Chapter 12.
- The tribe was broken, and would be mended no more.
- Kumalo,Chapter 13.
- Have no doubt it is fear in his eyes.
- Chapter 14.
- You see, my brother, there is no proof that my son or this other young man was there at all.
- Chapter 14.
- We do what is in us, and why it is in us, that is also a secret. It is Christ in us, crying that men may be succoured and forgiven, even when He Himself is forsaken.
- Chapter 15.
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.
- Chapter 20.
- The truth is that our society is not Christian; it is a tragic compound of great ideal and fearful practice, of high assurance and desperate anxiety, of loving charity and fearful clutching of possession. Allow me a minute..
In a land of fear this incorruptibility is like a lamp set upon a stand.
- Chapter 22.
- No second Johannesburg is needed upon the earth. One is enough.
Narrator Chapter 23.
This thing that is the heaviest thing of all my years, is the heaviest thing of all your years also. Chapter 25
There was a brightness in him. Chapter 25.
And then what will happen to the carpenter's shop, that brings in eight, ten, twelve pounds a week?. Chapter 26.
In the deserted harbour, there is yet water that laps against the quays. In the dark and silent forest there is a leaf that falls. Behind the polished panelling the white ant eats away the wood. Nothing is ever quiet, except for fools. Narrator,Chapter 26.
I shall care for your child, my son, even as if it were my own. Chapter 29.
I am a weak and sinful man, but God put His hands on me, that is all. Chapter 29.
Something deep is touched here, something that is good and deep. Chapter 30.
Forgive us all, for we all have trespasses. Chapter 30.
Pain and suffering, they are a secret. Kindness and love, they are a secret. But I have learned that kindness and love can pay for pain and suffering Chapter 30.
When you go, something bright will go out of Ndotsheni. Chapter 33.
That is a small angel from God. Chapter 33.
Although nothing has come yet, something is here already. Chapter 34.
And now for all the people of Africa, the beloved country. Nkosi Sikelel' iAfrika, God save Africa. But he would not see that salvation. It lay afar off, because men were afraid of it. Because, to tell the truth, they were afraid of him, and his wife, and Msimangu, and the young demonstrator. And what was there evil in their desires, in their hunger? That man should walk upright in the land where they were born, and be free to use the fruits of the earth, what was there evil in it?...They were afraid because they were so few. And such fear could not be cast out, but by love. Kumalo,Chapter 36.
One thing is about to be finished, but here is something that is only begun. Chapter 36.
For it is the dawn that has come, as it has come for a thousand centuries, never failing. But when that dawn will come, of our emancipation, from the fear of bondage and the bondage of fear, why, that is a secret. Kumalo, Chapter 36.
- It suited the white man to break the tribe, [Msimangu] continues gravely. But it has not suited him to build something in the place of what is broken. I have pondered this for many hours and I must speak it, for it is the truth for me. They are not all so. There are some white men who give their lives to build up what is broken.
But they are not enough, he said. They are afraid, that is the truth. It is fear that rules this land. Book1. *Chapter 5. Paragraphs 60-1
- That is a pity, says Msimangu. I am not a man for segregation, but it is a pity that we are not apart. They run trams from the centre of the city, and part is for Europeans and part for us. But we are often thrown off the trams by young hooligans. And our hooligans are ready for trouble too. — But the authorities, do they allow that? — They do not. But they cannot watch every tram. And if a trouble develops, who can find how it began and who will tell the truth? It is a pity we are not apart.
- Book 1.chapter 6. Paragraphs 2-4
- You have shamed us, he says in a low voice, not wishing to make it known to the world. A liquor seller, a prostitute with a child, and you do not know where it is? Your brother a priest. How could you do this to us?
She looks at him sullenly, like an animal that is tormented. — I have come to take you back. She falls on to the floor and cries; her cries become louder and louder, she has no shame.
- Book 1 chapter.6. Paragraphs 55-9.
- Will [Absalom] ever return? [the reform school employee] asked, indifferently, carelessly. — I do not know, she said. She said it tonelessly, hopelessly, as one who is used to waiting, to desertion. She said it as one who expects nothing from her seventy years upon the earth. No rebellion will come out of her, no demands, no fierceness. Nothing will come out of her at all save the children of men who will use her, leave her, forget her. And so slight was her body, and so few her years, that Kumalo for all his suffering was moved to compassion.
- Book 1, chapter 10, paragraph 83.
- These hills [near Ixopo] are grass-covered and rolling, and they are lovely beyond any singing of it.
- Narrator, Book 1, Chapter 1.
- Johannesburg [has] so many streets ... [one can go] up one and down another, and never the same one twice.
Narrator, Book 1, Chapter 3
- Deep down the fear of a man ... beyond any recall.
- Narrator, Book 1, Chapter 3.
- There is laughter in the house ... it is in truth bad laughter.
- Narrator, Book 1, Chapter 6.
- You have shamed us ... How could you do this to us?
Rev. Stephen Kumalo, Book 1, Chapter 6.
- He stopped, and was silent ... for this was a new brother that he saw.
- Narrator, Book 1, Chapter 7.
- I have one great fear in my heart ... they will find we are turned to hating.
- Rev. Theophilus Msimangu, Book 1, Chapter 7.
- Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the inheritor of our fear.
- Narrator, Book 1, Chapter 12
- The tribe was broken ... and the maize hardly reached to the height of a man.
- Narrator, Book 1, Chapter 13.
- My friend, your anxiety turned to fear ... sorrow may enrich.
- Father Vincent, Book 1, Chapter 15.
- The old man was tempted ... and the father's compassion struggled with ... temptation and overcame it.
- Narrator, Book 1, Chapter 17.
- It was permissible to allow the destruction of a tribal system that impeded ... growth.
Arthur Jarvis, Book 2, Chapter 20.
- We believe in the brotherhood of man, but ... do not want it in South Africa.
- Arthur Jarvis, Book 2, Chapter 21.
- But when that dawn will come ... why, that is a secret.
Narrator, Book 3, Chapter 36.
- And he knew then that this was a man who put his feet upon a road.
- Narrator, Book 3, Chapter 34.
- There is a lovely road that runs from Ixopo into the hills. These hills are grass-covered and rolling and they are lovely beyond any singing of it. The road climbs seven miles into them, to Carisbrooke; and from there, if there is no mist, you look down on one of the fairest valleys of Africa.
First lines of novel, Chapter 1.
- They go to Johannesburg, and there they are lost, and no one hears of them at all.
- Chapter 2.
- Happy the eyes that can close.
- Narrator,Chapter 2.
- One day in Johannesburg, and already the tribe was being rebuilt, the house and soul being restored.
Chapter 6.
- The white man has broken the tribe. And it is my belief - and again I ask your pardon - that it cannot be mended again. But the house that is broken, and the man that falls apart when the house is broken, these are the tragic things. That is why children break the law, and old white people are robbed and beaten.
- Rev. Msimangu, Chapter 5.
- She has many husbands.
- Chapter 5.
One day in Johannesburg, and already the tribe was being rebuilt, the house and soul being restored.
- Chapter 6.
