I look at an ant and l see myself: a native South African, endowed by nature with a strength much greater than my size so I might cope with the weight of a racism that crushes my spirit."

"Africa has her mysteries, and even a wise man cannot understand them. But a wise man respects them."

"Ours was a marriage, a love affair -- the land would nurture us, and we would honor the land. But the land was too rich and too good. The powerful and greedy invaders saw this at once."

"I look at a stream and I see myself: a native South African, flowing irresistibly over hard obstacles until they become smooth and, one day, disappear -- flowing from an origin that has been forgotten toward an end that will never be."

People in the United States still have a 'Tarzan' movie view of Africa. That's because in the movies all you see are jungles and animals . . . We [too] watch television and listen to the radio and go to dances and fall in love.