I walked away from Africa with nothing. No brother, no family, no lover, nothing... Just a belief that words and compassion are the better way. Even if it's slower than a gun.

Vengeance is a lazy form of grief.

People handle fear in different ways, Mr. Keller. It turns some people into stand up comedians.

You think that not getting caught in a lie is the same thing as telling the truth.

THE GUNFIRE AROUND us makes it hard to hear. But the human voice is different from other sounds. It can be heard over noises that bury everything else. Even when it's not shouting. Even when it's just a whisper. Even the lowest whisper can be heard - -over armies... when it's telling the truth.

I'd rather make the mistake of believing her, than the bigger one of not.

Silvia Broome: We're Kapéla. It means standing on opposite sides of the river.
Tobin Keller: You've got to give me a reason to get to the other side.

Everyone who loses somebody wants revenge on someone, on God if they can't find anyone else. But in Africa, in Matobo, the Ku believe that the only way to end grief is to save a life. If someone is murdered, a year of mourning ends with a ritual that we call the Drowning Man Trial. There's an all-night party beside a river. At dawn, the killer is put in a boat. He's taken out on the water and he's dropped. He's bound so that he can't swim. The family of the dead then has to make a choice. They can let him drown or they can swim out and save him. The Ku believe that if the family lets the killer drown, they'll have justice but spend the rest of their lives in mourning. But if they save him, if they admit that life isn't always just... that very act can take away their sorrow.

Peace, security and freedom are not finite commodities like land, oil or gold, which one state can acquire at another's expense.

- The Interpreter - Music : Atalago -