Rian Malan > Quotes

“In South Africa, it's like a law of nature: there's no such thing as a true story here. The facts may be correct, but the truth they embody is always a lie to someone else. Every inch of our soil is contested, every word in our histories likewise; our languages are mutually incomprehensible, our philosophies irreconcilable.”
― Rian Malan, The Lion Sleeps Tonight

“These were facts, not myths, although what freight they carried I could not say. I was deaf in Simon’s language, and blind in his culture. In the end, all I really”
― Rian Malan, My Traitor's Heart: A South African Exile Returns to Face His Country, His Tribe, and His Conscience