Nelson Mandela: A Life Inspired, Gillian Kendall and Wyatt North

"Furthermore, the South African Bill of Rights was among the first in the world to protect the rights of homosexuals. When adopted in 1996, it brought to an end the ban on gays serving in South Africa's armed forces." -- Nelson Mandela; A Life Inspired, Gillian Kendall and Wyatt North

Full disclosure; this is one of the worst biographies of Mandela I've ever read, but this quote drew my attention and got me looking into LGBT rights in South Africa which are remarkably progressive.

However, if you want to read a good book on Mandela, I'd suggest another book.

Golden Fool, Robin Hobb

"To recognize you are the source of your own loneliness is not a cure for it. But it is a step toward seeing that it is not inevitable, and that such a choice is not irrevocable." -- Golden Fool, Robin Hobb

A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens

"There is no doubt that Marley was dead. This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate." --A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens.

Lost And Abandoned, John Crowley

"Love costs money; so love makes money, or is willing to try." --Lost and Abandoned, 
John Crowley


Found this in an anthology of short stories based on fairy tales called Black Swan, White Raven. It sums up such a simple truth that so few people want to admit to...

The Church and Cultures: New Perspectives In Missiological Anthropology, Louis J. Luzbetak

"What one learns in early life tends to persist more than what is learned in later life. Certain sexual tendencies, speech habits, gestures and facial expressions, fear of black magic and wicked spirits, and fondness for certain foods--all of which are associated with early learning--are among the most difficult of habits to change. Voodoo persists for a variety of reasons, not least of all because it is associated with early life experiences. Health programs meet stiff opposition when new dietary habits are suggested because they go counter to the pleasant and satisfying childhood experiences associated with eating."

-from The Church and Cultures: New Perspectives in Missiological Anthropology, Louis J. Luzbetak.

Castrating Culture, Dewi Hughes

"As stated above, modernists expect ethnic diversity to diminish as nation states get bigger and bigger. The ultimate ideal is one universal nation state where everyone can enjoy the freedom to create and consume. It is at this point that the idea of humanity will be finally realized. This echo of Babel is a frightening thought in a world where human beings are not very good at handling power."

-from Castrating Culture, Dewi Hughes

(If anyone has a website for this author, please share in the comments. Supposedly he's the theological advisor to Tearfund, but I can't find hide or hair of him on their site. Oh well...)

Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons

"Large numbers of young people, raised in rigidly structured and industrially oriented cultures, violently reject industrialism and seek instead some modified version of the agricultural lifestyle that their forebears(debatably) enjoyed, including extended communal families and in some instances a barter economy in miniature. Children starve while boots costing many thousands of dollars leave their mark upon the surface of the moon. We have labored long to build a heaven, only to find it populated with horrors.

~from Watchmen, Alan Moore and Dave Gibbons