In the middle of today's piece he uses an unattributed quote:
It is easy for Mandela and Tutu to forgive... they lead vindicated lives. In my life nothing, not a single thing, has changed since my son was burnt by barbarians.I'd heard those words before somewhere, but I couldn't remember where the quote came from. Then I found it on-line; it was in this piece by South African poet Antjie Krog, which includes the "Parable of the Bicycle".
There was Tom and there was John. Tom lived opposite John. One day, Tom stole John's bicycle and every day John saw Tom cycling to school on his bicycle. A year later, Tom walked up to John. He stretched out his hand. "Let's reconcile and put the past behind us." John looked at Tom's hand. "And what about the bicycle?" "No," said Tom, "I'm not talking about the bicycle. I'm talking about reconciliation."Norm Geras puts it more succinctly when he notes, 'Amnesty' is of the same linguistic provenance as 'amnesia'.
