It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive.

‚Lives‘ is one of those books I should really have written when I was younger. It is the classic childhood, adolescence, breakthrough-into-maturity book. Every beginning writer has that material – and after that, you’re not sure what you can do.

I don’t know how many good books I still have in me; I hope there are another four or five.

It is necessary to help others, not only in our prayers, but in our daily lives. If we find we cannot help others, the least we can do is to desist from harming them.

The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.

Science arose from poetry… when times change the two can meet again on a higher level as friends.

Teach me to feel another’s woe, to hide the fault I see, that mercy I to others show, that mercy show to me.

It is the nature of the artist to mind excessively what is said about him. Literature is strewn with the wreckage of men who have minded beyond reason the opinions of others.

What is the appropriate behavior for a man or a woman in the midst of this world, where each person is clinging to his piece of debris? What’s the proper salutation between people as they pass each other in this flood?

I’m blessed to have such a tight-knit family that we can talk about anything. Whether we talk frequently or not, since we’re on separate ends of the country, there are a lot of moving parts, and we always stay tight and find that center ground that keeps us together.

Our generation in the west was lucky: we had readymade gateways. We had books, paper, teachers, schools and libraries. But many in the world lack these luxuries. How do you practice without such tryout venues?

Love one another, but make not a bond of love: Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.

There are people in the world so hungry, that God cannot appear to them except in the form of bread.

I am for people. I can’t help it.

It is remarkable how closely the history of the apple tree is connected with that of man.

Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity’s belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul, and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all.

If you want to make someone feel emotion, you have to make them let go. Listening to something is an act of surrender.

If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them.

One friend in a lifetime is much, two are many, three are hardly possible. Friendship needs a certain parallelism of life, a community of thought, a rivalry of aim.

Through my research, I found that vulnerability is the glue that holds relationships together. It’s the magic sauce.

Let your heart feel for the afflictions and distress of everyone, and let your hand give in proportion to your purse.

The greatest gift that you can give to others is the gift of unconditional love and acceptance.

All that I know about my life, it seems, I have learned in books.

Some people think literature is high culture and that it should only have a small readership. I don’t think so… I have to compete with popular culture, including TV, magazines, movies and video games.

The rudiment of verse may, possibly, be found in the spondee.

Life being very short, and the quiet hours of it few, we ought to waste none of them in reading valueless books.

We pity in others only the those evils which we ourselves have experienced.

You must live for another if you wish to live for yourself.

I have never sat down and studied the Bible, never consciously echoed its language, and am, in reality, as ignorant of it as most brought-up Christians. All of the Bible that I use in my work is remembered from childhood and is the common property of all who were brought up in English-speaking communities.

I have this feeling that the world is not in balance. And people are afraid, but we’re also starting to be really brave.

Through our own recovered innocence we discern the innocence of our neighbors.

Clinicians, academicians, and politicians are often put to a test of faith. In pursuit of their goals, will their religion show or will it be hidden? Are they tied back to God or to man?

If you want to see the true measure of a man, watch how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.

To the press alone, chequered as it is with abuses, the world is indebted for all the triumphs which have been gained by reason and humanity over error and oppression.

One thing that writers have in common is that they are readers first. They have read lots and lots of stuff, because they’re just infested with lots of stuff.

Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.

A tear dries quickly when it is shed for troubles of others.

It’s not that every single thing that happens on Facebook is gonna be good. This is humanity. People use tools for good and bad, but I think that we have a clear responsibility to make sure that the good is amplified and to do everything we can to mitigate the bad.

I am the literary equivalent of a Big Mac and fries.

People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned.

A man who was completely innocent, offered himself as a sacrifice for the good of others, including his enemies, and became the ransom of the world. It was a perfect act.

An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.

It is understanding that gives us an ability to have peace. When we understand the other fellow’s viewpoint, and he understands ours, then we can sit down and work out our differences.

Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.

Man is an imperceptible atom always trying to become one with God.

I feel like if you’re a really good human being, you can try to find something beautiful in every single person, no matter what.

My first wish is to see this plague of mankind, war, banished from the earth.

We need to show mercy. I mean, because as much mercy as you show people, that’s the mercy you’re going to be receiving.

I’ve written a number of books that have to do with the evolution of humans, human intelligence, human emotions.

We can, for example, be fairly confident that either there will be a world without war or there won’t be a world – at least, a world inhabited by creatures other than bacteria and beetles, with some scattering of others.

The whole aspect of cinema and film festivals should be a moment to come together and celebrate art and humanity. It would be a shame if there was such a divide.

I’ve never been a jealous person, and I’ve never felt built up by someone else’s failure – that’s a cheap thrill.

Words without thoughts never to heaven go.

It is not Kafka’s fault that his wonderful writings have lately turned into a fad, and are read by people who have neither the ability nor the desire to absorb literature.

To give pleasure to a single heart by a single act is better than a thousand heads bowing in prayer.

I’m always reading the next book. Taking notes. Highlighting, researching, studying. It doesn’t stop.

The discipline of the written word punishes both stupidity and dishonesty.

You pity the fool because you don’t want to beat up a fool! You know, pity is between sorry and mercy. See, if you pity him, you know, you won’t have to beat him up. So that’s why I say fools, you gotta give another chance because they don’t know no better. That’s why I pity them!

A poem begins in delight and ends in wisdom.

Reading made Don Quixote a gentleman, but believing what he read made him mad.

I’ve loved reading all my life.