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What we have, we all must lose—that applied to everything, even to that which we thought we had the greatest right. We were tenants of this earth—noth...more

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…there is faith and faith. One form of faith is actual practice—the rituals and so on—the other form of faith involves actually believing in it.

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She had always understood that love could have an intense physical effect; could fill a space somewhere in the chest, could turn knees weak, could rai...more

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…the world was a vale of tears—it always had been.

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Can you forgive her? Can you do that?There was no response.Because if you can start to forgive, then it will become easier.And?And then you will be ab...more

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Tolerance was like one of those soothing creams—it drew out inflammation, it did away with the pain.

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People don’t talk about mercy very much these days—it has a rather old-fashioned ring to it. but it exists and its power is quite extraordinary

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Go to any small village anywhere in the world, and see what they remember. Everything. It's all there -- passed on like a precious piece of informatio...more

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Regular maps have few surprises: their contour lines reveal where the Andes are, and are reasonably clear. More precious, though, are the unpublished ...more

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It was a good thing to be an African. There were terrible things that happened in Africa, things that brought shame and despair when one thought about...more

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The ordinary people of Africa tended not to have room in their hearts for hatred. They were sometimes foolish, like people anywhere, but they did not ...more

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Africa was full of people in need of help and there had to be a limit. You simply could not help everybody; but you could at least help those who came...more

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Africa had a way of coming back and simply covering everything up again.

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Then there was Mr Mandela. Everybody knew about Mr Mandela and how he had forgiven those who had imprisoned him. They had taken away years and years o...more

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Everything, all those great things, had happened so far away--or so it seemed to [Mma Ramotswe] at the time. The world was made to sound as if it belo...more