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Peter Abrahams Quotes

To get from people you had to give a piece of yourself, a real piece that mattered. Just being nice was not enough Picture Quote #1

Positive social awareness among the South African educated half-caste is zero. Teaching is a mechanical job. The best way of earning a living Picture Quote #1

They say life is all about connecting, like that’s a good thing. But when brain and eyes are lining up you know different Picture Quote #1

The London I entered was a great bustling metropolitan city at war, an imperial power fighting to hold on to that empire. And the teeming colonial subjects of that empire did not, on the whole, want England to lose that war, but they also did not want the empire to emerge unchanged from it. This, for very many of us, was the hard dilemma Picture Quote #1

The only places where I have found that simple human dignity, that respect for the other man, and the gracious feel of tolerance and humanity have not been either among the heroes of the class-struggle or the ‘thinking men’ but among my simple ‘backward’ people Picture Quote #1

My mother went to work in the homes of white folk, usually living in and looking after their children. The money was small Picture Quote #1

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My mother was a member of the Cape Coloured community. ‘Coloured’ is the South African word for the half-caste community that was a by-product of the early contact between black and white Picture Quote #1

The racism of the Nazis threatened to make whatever we had experienced look like child’s play. If they could be so brutal to the Jews, what would they do to the blacks? So large numbers of black young men and women rallied to the defence of the empire Picture Quote #1

Most of the black women who lived in the lower end of Vrededorp came from the countryside and were there to be near their menfolk who worked in the mines. They spoke neither English nor Afrikaans Picture Quote #1

What do you get out of hating people, out of having this bitterness in your heart always? Picture Quote #1

You don’t have to be a good person to be a good writer--history shows it’s better if you’re not--but you have to understand your badness Picture Quote #1

For me, personally, life in South Africa had come to an end. I had been lucky in some of the whites I had met. Meeting them had made a straight ‘all-blacks-are-good, all-whites-are-bad’ attitude impossible. But I had reached a point where the gestures of even my friends among the whites were suspect, so I had to go or be forever lost Picture Quote #1

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We do not ask the right questions when we are young, so we miss the important answers. Now it is too late to ask, too late for the illuminating answers, and the unanswered questions haunt us for a lifetime Picture Quote #1

Being born white in South Africa or anywhere in the empire and Commonwealth automatically conferred this special status. You had no problem finding a place to live, a job, trade union membership, access to social services. Being white, speaking English, you were accepted as English, entitled to all the rights of citizenship Picture Quote #1

With Shakespeare and poetry, a new world was born. New dreams, new desires, a self consciousness was born. I desired to know to know myself in terms of the new standards set by these books Picture Quote #1

To get where you want to go you can’t only do what you like Picture Quote #1

Joseph and his mother come from the black kings who were before the white man Picture Quote #1

You can’t walk alone. Many have given the illusion, but none have really walked alone. Man is not made that way. Each man is bedded in his people, their history, their culture, and their values Picture Quote #1

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The words dripped on my consciousness, sank into my being, and carried me away to the magic long ago of once upon a time Picture Quote #1

Many have changed so much that they have lost the magic of the dream that carried them on their own bootstraps Picture Quote #1

Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

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Text Quotes

To get from people you had to give a piece of yourself, a real piece that mattered. Just being nice was not enough. (Peter Abrahams Quotes) Positive social awareness among the South African educated half-caste is zero. Teaching is a mechanical job. The best way of earning a living. (Peter Abrahams Quotes) They say life is all about connecting, like that’s a good thing. But when brain and eyes are lining up you know different. (Peter Abrahams Quotes) The London I entered was a great bustling metropolitan city at war, an imperial power fighting to hold on to that empire. And the teeming colonial subjects of that empire did not, on the whole, want England to lose that war, but they also did not want the empire to emerge unchanged from it. This, for very many of us, was the hard dilemma. (Peter Abrahams Quotes) The only places where I have found that simple human dignity, that respect for the other man, and the gracious feel of tolerance and humanity have not been either among the heroes of the class-struggle or the ‘thinking men’ but among my simple ‘backward’ people. (Peter Abrahams Quotes) My mother went to work in the homes of white folk, usually living in and looking after their children. The money was small. (Peter Abrahams Quotes) My mother was a member of the Cape Coloured community. ‘Coloured’ is the South African word for the half-caste community that was a by-product of the early contact between black and white. (Peter Abrahams Quotes) The racism of the Nazis threatened to make whatever we had experienced look like child’s play. If they could be so brutal to the Jews, what would they do to the blacks? So large numbers of black young men and women rallied to the defence of the empire. (Peter Abrahams Quotes) Most of the black women who lived in the lower end of Vrededorp came from the countryside and were there to be near their menfolk who worked in the mines. They spoke neither English nor Afrikaans. (Peter Abrahams Quotes) What do you get out of hating people, out of having this bitterness in your heart always? (Peter Abrahams Quotes) You don’t have to be a good person to be a good writer--history shows it’s better if you’re not--but you have to understand your badness. (Peter Abrahams Quotes) For me, personally, life in South Africa had come to an end. I had been lucky in some of the whites I had met. Meeting them had made a straight ‘all-blacks-are-good, all-whites-are-bad’ attitude impossible. But I had reached a point where the gestures of even my friends among the whites were suspect, so I had to go or be forever lost. (Peter Abrahams Quotes) We do not ask the right questions when we are young, so we miss the important answers. Now it is too late to ask, too late for the illuminating answers, and the unanswered questions haunt us for a lifetime. (Peter Abrahams Quotes) Being born white in South Africa or anywhere in the empire and Commonwealth automatically conferred this special status. You had no problem finding a place to live, a job, trade union membership, access to social services. Being white, speaking English, you were accepted as English, entitled to all the rights of citizenship. (Peter Abrahams Quotes) With Shakespeare and poetry, a new world was born. New dreams, new desires, a self consciousness was born. I desired to know to know myself in terms of the new standards set by these books (Peter Abrahams Quotes) To get where you want to go you can’t only do what you like (Peter Abrahams Quotes) Joseph and his mother come from the black kings who were before the white man (Peter Abrahams Quotes) You can’t walk alone. Many have given the illusion, but none have really walked alone. Man is not made that way. Each man is bedded in his people, their history, their culture, and their values (Peter Abrahams Quotes) The words dripped on my consciousness, sank into my being, and carried me away to the magic long ago of once upon a time (Peter Abrahams Quotes) Many have changed so much that they have lost the magic of the dream that carried them on their own bootstraps (Peter Abrahams Quotes)