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.