Born a Crime Quotes with Page Numbers

Perhaps there is no greater cause of conflict within Africa than the phenomenon of children born out of wedlock. And throughout apartheid, the government went to great lengths to make sure there were as few ‘mixed’ children as possible (Page 4).

The genius of apartheid was convincing people who were the overwhelming majority to turn on each other. Apart hate, is what it was (Page 9).

I became a chameleon. My color didn’t change, but my language and my demeanor and my behavior did (Page 15).

It’s always easier to tear something down than to build it up. Violence is a weapon of the weak (Page 24).

But people love animals. They just don’t love animals as much as they love people who look like them (Page 36).

Language, even more than color, defines who you are to people (Page 46).

People love to say, ‘Give a man a fish, and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish, and he’ll eat for a lifetime.’ What they don’t say is, ‘And it would be nice if you gave him a fishing rod.’ That’s the part of the analogy that’s missing (Page 62).

The name Hitler does not offend a black South African because Hitler is not the worst thing a black South African can imagine. Every country thinks their history is the most important, and that’s especially true in the West (Page 78).

In the streets of Johannesburg they called me white boy. And sometimes they called me white trash (Page 92).

Being chosen is the greatest gift you can give to another human being (Page 101).

My true mugging, the metaphorical mugging that has shaped the way I view the world and the story I tell myself about myself, happened much later (Page 112).

They say ‘It takes a village to raise a child’. It took a village to raise my mom (Page 120).

People say you don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone. The truth is, you knew what you had, you just never thought you’d lose it (Page 137).

Growing up, I had a series of thoughts and prayers about God. My first thought was that God made the world and everything in it and that God knew everything. He knew where the dead children were (Page 150).

The uncertainty was unbearable. ‘Why doesn’t God do something?’ I would ask my mother. ‘He did,’ she told me. ‘He made you’ (Page 157).

We were in heaven. Nothing in the world could touch us. The temperatures soared into the triple digits, but we didn’t feel the heat. We danced in the streets. We danced on tables. We had a map of every foster home in Johannesburg you could stay at without being beaten or molested (Page 165).

My father played the role of white father to the hilt (Page 182).

I thought my dad was just being nice, but when I was eight, I realized the full extent of what he’d done. I was deadly ill, being consumed from the inside out by a force that made my body revolt against itself. I was dying. And my dad helped save my life by saving me from my mom (Page 190).

There’s a phrase in Zulu my mom used to tell me all the time when I was growing up. Khumbule khaya la mntanami. It means Remember, home, my child. It doesn’t mean ‘Where you live.’ It means ‘Who you are’ (Page 202).

In African culture it is believed that ancestors watch over you from the stars (Page 213).

You can’t have an honest reading of South African history and not find in it the tremendous work done by the church (Page 227).

Slave and master eat from the same pot (Page 233).

Because I’m colored, I offer no threat to these people (Page 244).

No child is born a criminal. It’s environment that turns them into one (Page 258).

Whatever you are, be a good one (Page 274).

You don’t forget the face of the person who almost“You don’t forget the face of the person who almost ended your life. More than that, you don’t forget the name of the woman who risked her life to save you (Page 283).

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the world he didn’t exist. And like that… poof. He’s gone (Page 295).

We tell ourselves stories in order to live (Page 309).

We spend so much time being afraid of failure, afraid of rejection. But regret is the thing we should fear most. Failure is an answer. Rejection is an answer. Regret is an eternal question you will never have the answer to (Page 322).

The world is run by those who show up (Page 335).

Change is the only constant. Your ability to navigate and tolerate change builds a strong mental and emotional foundation (Page 347).

The first thing I learned about having money was that it gives you choices. People don’t want to be rich. They want to be able to choose (Page 359).

Who we are cannot be separated from where we’re from (Page 370).

Laughter brings you closer to your fellow man, laughter is the only weapon we’ve got (Page 384).

I don’t know if we each have a destiny, or if we’re all just floating around accidental-like on a breeze. But I think maybe it’s both. Maybe both is happening at the same time (Page 394).

Because, unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not (Page 408).

Let the man sell his shoes, don’t take his dignity (Page 418).

In the end, the world will not be saved by old minds with new programs. If the world is saved, it will be saved by new minds – with no programs! (Page 428).

You’re either for imperialism or against it. You can’t be neutral about being a contender (Page 439).

Ideally, children are buddhas – before they are anything else (Page 450).

Manhood has a cost (Page 466).

You can’t sprinkle sugar on shit and call it a cake. But you can sprinkle glitter on shit and call it a person (Page 475).

The greatest crimes are not committed by the powerless, but by the powerful and the powerless who enable them (Page 486).

I didn’t have to be fearless. I just had to look like I was (Page 494).

You can either feed the bakery or you can feed the village. But you can’t do both (Page 503).

Language brings with it an identity and a culture, or at least the perception of it (Page 516).

Because, you see, actors are not necessarily acting alone. They are acting with you. And you are their scene partner. So I knew, when I left the stage door, it was the audience’s energy that somehow pushed me out there. That charge we shared happened again and again and again (Page 526).

In any leadership role, to be effective you have to have a balance of confidence and humility (Page 537).

A dream is only as good as those who commit to making it a reality (Page 548).

You see, I once believed our country would never be ruled by tyrants and thugs. What a fool I was (Page 562).