- Listen to what the sea says,
Ask the black mountains.
The conclusion I draw from the history of slavery is that freedom is not just a matter of rights, to be enshrined in law. The right to express yourself still leaves you with the need to decide what to say, to find someone to listen, and to make your words sound beautiful; these are skills which need to be acquired.
Just as important have been encounters with others, with people or with places, which have provided the inspiration and courage to escape from dull routines. There has been a waste of an opportunity every time a meeting has taken place and nothing has happened... In most meetings, pride or caution still forbids one to say what one feels most deeply. The noise of the world is made out of silences."
An Intimate History of Humanity