Afrikaans Quotes

“Ouma always woke up before the birds did. She called it waking up at ‘mossiepop’ — Afrikaans for sparrow’s fart.”
― Bianca Bowers, Cape of Storms

“Kom ons reël 'n braai en dan moan ons oor hoe swaar ons kry in die nuwe Suid-Afrika”
― Jaco Strydom, Confessions oor kerkwees

“We need a change of attitude, because let's face it, no one’s going to change color”
― Jaco Strydom, Confessions oor kerkwees

“Die mensdom is die kuns om liefde te maak sonder om 'n vyand te maak”
― P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar

“Einde is vir die paadjie, nie vir die bestemming”
― P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar

“Volledige beheer is altyd 'n illusie.”
― Francois Smith, Kamphoer

“At Hennie’s home in Worcester, in true South Africa style, we braaied choppies, Boerewors, chicken, and braaibroodtjies along with a few different types of salads and dessert, which included Peppermint Tart with vanilla ice-cream.

My day started when I learned that my hart se punt is an expression to reaffirm exactly how much we love something or someone. My day ended by learning that love is a measurement of how much our heart can hold. The type of love that makes you feel propvol because the area is completely filled up.

And that’s the type of love that helps us to understand expressions of love that we have never considered before since love gives us the confidence to understand that love can’t be contained into little bottles or containers of security. Love is an ever-flowing emotion much like a running river that inspires us as it sweeps across our lives, and it covers everything with its inspiration simply called my hart se punt.

A point that reminds us that we’re not that special, love is our universal gift.

A point that always pulls us toward our heart’s True North, even when can’t initially see the blessing that is hiding past the weight of the cross.

An anchor of truth that’s freeing, as it pulls us toward our life’s highest purpose to be made whole, not perfect, through love’s grace that is simply called...

Die Punt, The Point.”
― hlbalcomb

“In that moment, I felt sad just thinking about leaving South Africa, and the people that I had met along the way during my cross-country adventures. In such a short space of time, they had filled my heart like they say in Afrikaans, propvol, meaning to full capacity, or to the point that there’s no space left – propvol meaning that not even a small cap full of something could fit because the space is chockful and completely stuffed.

And that is exactly how my heart felt – propvol, stuffed with little South African remembrances and an endless string of little moments held together by the names of people, locations, or Afrikaans words or phrases combined with tasty meals enjoyed around dining room tables, outdoor living spaces, and confined places like the inside of the Land Rover while driving down the coastline of South Africa.

Propvol, and yet that wasn’t enough….”
― hlbalcomb

“And as my head hit the pillow that night, my prayer for my son remained simply that his last wish would finally be fulfilled…in some future moment through the same type of faith that allows a 600-year-old Quteniqua Yellowwood tree to grow from a single seed. His last wish being the chance of speaking to me about the one topic that his heart couldn’t find any rest while living on earth – that the true gift of that opportunity would truly come to fruition.

In the interim, I had to follow in the words of Khalil Gibran when he said that there should be spaces between our togetherness to love one another “…but make not a bond of love: let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your soul.” Space between our togetherness to find a way on its own accord, outside of the scrutiny of my mothering protection.

That night, I went to bed with the reassuring, concluding words of Khalil Gibran “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters with seared scars.” Scars seared with the anointing warmth of love, a reminder of love’s miracle, and the hope that my loving son would find his peace even from beyond the grave since love makes whole the broken and crooked parts of every story, including stories already lived and wishes never fulfilled because they all stem from the same seeds… Inexhaustible Love.”
― hlbalcomb

“If the meaning of the mountain range overlooking the home’s peace is called the Quteniqua Mountains, which is rally made up of the Langeberg Range (northeast of Worcester) and the Tsitsikamma Mountains (east-west along The Garden Route), and if the collective name of the mountain range references the idea of honey, the honey that can be found at Amanda and Lena’s home starts with kindness, a type of kindness the touches the world’s core understanding of compassion.

“I want to give you a used copy of my favorite book that I think helps to explain what exactly I love about this area. Out of all of her books, this is probably one of the least favorite books based off readers’ choice, yet it is my favorite book because I think it truly understands the spirit of this area.” Amanda handed me the book.

“Da-lene Mat-thee,” I said. “Is that correct…”

Before I could finish, she had already answered my question. “Yes, the author that I had spoken about earlier today. Although she is an Afrikaans author, this book is in English. The Mulberry Forest. My favorite character is Silas Miggel, the headstrong Afrikaans man who didn’t want to have the Italian immigrants encroaching onto his part of the forest.”

She paused for a second before resuming, “Yet, he’s the one who came to their rescue when the government turned a blind eye on the hardships of the Italian immigrants. He’s the one who showed kindness toward them even when he didn’t feel that way in his heart. That’s what kindness is all about, making time for our follow neighbors because it’s the right thing to do, full stop. Silas is the embodiment of what I love about the people of this area. It is also what I love about my childhood home growing up in the shantytown. The same thread of tenacity can be found in both places. So, when you read about Silas, think of me because he represents the heart of both Knysna and the Storms River Valley. This area contains a lot of clones just like him, the heartbeat of why this area still stands today.”

That’s the kind of hope that lights up the sky. The Portuguese called the same mountain range Serra de Estrellla or Mountain of the Star…

If we want to change the world, we should follow in the Quteniqua Mountain’s success, and be a reminder that human benevolence is a star that lights up the sky of any galaxy, the birthplace of caring.

As we drove away, for a second, I thought I heard the quiet whispers from Dalene Matthee’s words when she wrote in Fiela’s Child: “If he had to wish, what would he wish for, he asked himself. What was there to wish for…a wish asked for the unattainable. The impossible.”

And that’s what makes this area so special, a space grounded in the impossibility held together through single acts of human kindness, the heart of the Garden Route’s greatest accomplishment.

A story for all times…simply called,
Hospitality, the Garden Route way…”
― hlbalcomb

“We followed him to a covered veranda. In America, we would call that a lemonade porch, however, in South Africa, they call it a stoep. A meeting place located outside the front of the home where friends and family can gather, and one can watch the rising or the setting of the sun in the cozy spot simply called a stoep.

The stoep projected a natural ambience of peace and harmony, as a light breeze filled the space with its woodsy fragrance of pine and other natural fragrances inspired by the area’s shrubbery. It almost felt like it was hypnotizing one into a deeper state of tranquility, a state of existence that celebrated the quiet pockets of solitude where a richer from of living is housed. It made one slouch a little more meaningfully and relax the muscles of your body a little more conscientiously, as you let go of one’s innate need to think – to think to the point of hyper focusing on the meaningless details of life, for example, the incessant need to make every moment in life count…

Yet, the stoep’s lesson of deeper living is simply the gift of becoming reacquainted with the joy of just being – open yet connected to now, without a higher purpose beyond that. Sometimes, the greatest gift that we can give ourselves is just to sit in the rawness of the moment without any outcome or intention in mind – except, to breathe in the life of the area around us.

That is where my afternoon’s lesson ended, knowing that a stoep is a space where quality of human connection is made with or without the presence of any audience because it’s that space that celebrates the stillness of nothing and yet everything simultaneously, or in the words of Rumi: “In order to understand the dance, one must be still. And in order to truly understand the stillness, one must dance.”

In South Africa that concept is lovingly called…Die Stoep, a space of possibility.”
― hlbalcomb

“As we drove out of one of The Kruger National Park’s main gates, before I could think further, I added, “That was a lekker holiday!” If South Africa had taught me one thing, it is that South Africans who are natural collectors of little moments understand that the feelings of contentment should have a scale to measure where exactly a person is on the range of gratitude. And lekker is exactly that, one word to measure the depth of one’s connection to the feelings of life within one. In that moment, my scale of contentment was sky high, and by the way I had just pronounced that word, I had just made it clear to the world that I was starting to understand the value of one word to convey a complete thought of happiness through its shifting context of interpretation – the gift of acknowledgement of an instant spark of awareness within.

Lekker, simply stated -- a visceral connection to our understanding of the wealth of happiness residing in our heart by means of a single moment unfolding right now – in front of us. Lekker…enough said.”
― hlbalcomb

“Veld, that space within most South African hearts that mirrors the open expanse of land where the greatness of life resides in the vastness of grasslands captured in the imaginations of wanderers and adventurer seekers alike when we stop our overthinking and optimize our ability to enjoy life’s unscripted moments that are wide-open and usually – right in front of us.
Veld, a word for the miracle of newness and the appreciation for the life that is waiting to be lived, one grass blade at a time, and a lesson for humans in appreciating the fullness of life’s abundance when we slowdown the pace of our own world to absorb the miracles happening all around us – at any given moment.
Veld, although this word literally means an open expanse, that is what life around us is truly about – an open expanse of miracles just waiting on us for our sense to mature…
The magic of South Africa, a spell that will leave your heart as open as the veld and the expanse beyond that.
A lesson in feeling small…”
― hlbalcomb

“DWAAL, noun, a dreamy, dazed, or absent-minded state. "In that space of peaceful serenity, I finally understood that home is where you heart feels free. A place far removed from any physical barriers or constraints. Home is a space where you feel alive. You feel like dancing. A dance called dwaal – meaning to wander into the uncharted waters of our stories unexplored and underrepresented chapters" (All Roads Lead to Cape Town, a novel about the birthplace of our togetherness and amazing words like 'dwaal' -- side note, born in Bloemfontein, South Africa, J.R.R. Tolkien described this word through his own unique perspective when he said: 'Not all who wander are lost'.”
― H.L. Balcomb, All Roads Lead to Cape Town

“People to often say "justice" but mean "revenge”
― Jaco Strydom, Leef lig: Vyf gewoontes van die vroeë kerk en wat dit vir ons vandag beteken

“Dis drome van rykdom wat ons arm maak.”
― Jaco Strydom, Leef lig: Vyf gewoontes van die vroeë kerk en wat dit vir ons vandag beteken

“Toe sien ek, die ou tannie met die swak teologie wat drie weeskinders in haar plakkershuis inneem, doen meer as sewe goeie teoloë . . .”
― Jaco Strydom, Alle sondaars welkom: Gedagtes oor God en die grense van mense

“n ronde gebou
met 'n toring
en 'n hoender op
is eintlik 'n aardige hok
vir 'n alomteenwoordige God

('n ouditorium ok)”
― Jaco Strydom, Alle sondaars welkom: Gedagtes oor God en die grense van mense

“Kom ons reël 'n braai, dan moan ons bietjie oor hoe sleg dit gaan in die nuwe Suid-Afrika.”
― Jaco Strydom, Alle sondaars welkom: Gedagtes oor God en die grense van mense

“Dis asof ons onsself nie kan help nie. Ons raak maklik deurmekaar. Ons kompliseer eenvoudige waarhede wat bloot geleef moet word, en oorvereenvoudig komplekse dinge waaroor ons eerder moet stilbly.”
― Jaco Strydom, Alle sondaars welkom: Gedagtes oor God en die grense van mense

“Oor my eerste boek, Confessions oor kerkwees, het ’n dominee in die Kaap gesê: “Dit lees lekker op die toilet.” My gebed is dat dit ook so sal wees met hierdie boek.”
― Jaco Strydom, Alle sondaars welkom: Gedagtes oor God en die grense van mense

“God is ’n vreemde Kunstenaar. Hy skilder skilderye wat self ook kan skilder.”
― Jaco Strydom

“Jy kan iemand in allerhande mense in allerhande situasies indwing, maar jy kan niemand dwing om vry te wees nie.”
― Jaco Strydom, Alle sondaars welkom: Gedagtes oor God en die grense van mense

“Dalk moet ons nie so verbaas wees wanneer ’n prostituut, ’n dwelmverslaafde en ’n hawelose ’n erediens bywoon nie. Dalk moet ons eerder verbaas wees omdat so baie welaf mense wat vir hulleself leef en net nou en dan krummels vir die armes gooi, so tuis voel in ons eredienste.”
― Jaco Strydom, Alle sondaars welkom: Gedagtes oor God en die grense van mense

“Die 'ons mense eerste'-evangelie staan radikaal in teenstelling met die evangelie van Jesus, want selfsug is die teenoorgestelde van liefde.”
― Jaco Strydom, Alle sondaars welkom: Gedagtes oor God en die grense van mense

“Wat drink jy?” vra Anderson se knapie nuuskierig.
“Aperol. Wil jy ‘n slukkie hê?”
“Nee dankie. Dit lyk soos Oros!”
― Elizabeth Wasserman, Die fantastiese mevrou Smit

“Hulle sê ‘n ma is slegs so gelukkig soos haar ongelukkigste kind.”
― Elizabeth Wasserman, Die fantastiese mevrou Smit

“Die dorp se kerk is werklik mooi en die argitektuur het haar vir ‘n paar minute besig gehou. Die ou gebou het ‘n statigheid wat verlore gegaan het in die ontwerp van al die ander kerke waarin sy al was. Seker nie vergelykbaar met katedrale in Europa nie, nee. Minder prag en praal, meer erns. Dit is ‘n gebou wat mense kan aanspoor om hulle sondes te oordink. Nie te bieg daaroor nie, want bieg is ‘n ander saak. Dit sit nie in protestante se bloed om te bieg nie. Hulle huigel en swyg.”
― Elizabeth Wasserman, Die fantastiese mevrou Smit

“Wie sou die ware swerwer wees / die een wat reis, die een wat lees?”
― Koos du Plessis

“Keuse
Ek het U raad, o Heer, verloën en ru
Gewens om hom by my te hê instede van
die samesyn met U.
Ek het die bitter kan
van U linkerhand geneem toe U
tussen die sterre deur twee bekers na my reik
En nou het ek die sku
gevoel dat ek U in die oë sal moet kyk.”
― Ingrid Jonker, Versamelde werke