Quotes from Pramoedya Ananta Toer

Barang siapa menyebar angin dia akan berpanen badai.

Yang tidak memerlukan Hyang Mahadewa juga tidak diperlukan olehnya. Tetapi hukumnya berjalan terus, dengan atau tanpa manusia.

People must be just and fair, starting with what they thought.

kau harus percaya akan berhasil, dan berhasillah kau; anggap semua pelajaran mudah, dan semua akan jadi mudah; jangan takut pada pelajaran apa pun, karena ketakutan itu sendiri kebodohan awal yang akan membodohkan semua.

Men, Gus, they love to eat. Who knows if leaves or if meat? That's all right, providing you understand, Gus, the more you advance at school does not mean the more you can eat other people's food. You must be able to recognize limits. That's not too hard to understand, is it? If people don't recognize such limits, God will make them realize in His own way.

An educated person must learn to act justly, beginning, first of all, with his thoughts, then later in his deeds. This is what it means to be educated.

Ada diajarkan oleh kaum brahmana: orang kaya terkesan pongah di mata si miskin, orang bijaksana terkesan angkuh di mata si dungu, orang gagah-berani terkesan dewa di mata si pengecut, juga sebaliknya Kakanda, orang miskin tak berkesan apa-apa pada si kaya, orang dungu terkesan mengibakan pada si bijaksana, orang pengecut terkesan hina pada si gagah-berani. Tetapi semua kesan itu salah. Orang harus mengenal mereka lebih dahulu.

Karena kau menulis. Suaramu takkan padam ditelan angin, akan abadi, sampai jauh, jauh di kemudian hari.

Senjata lebih berarti di tangan orang sebodoh-bodohnya dari pada keterpelajaran dari tubuh tanpa pelindung.

Kau harus selalu kelihatan cantik, Nyai. Muka yang kusut dan pakaian berantakan juga pencerminan perusahaan yang kusut-berantakan, tak dapat dipercaya.

Let us see whether it is the New Order or me who will be the loser before Indonesian history. I have won. The New Order has fallen and my writings have been translated into 40 languages.

Every book that is banned is a badge of honor.

I'll do as I please. My mind is not to be imprisoned.

Even though no one admits it, writers are leaders in their communities.

Every good teaching may still end up producing evil bandits who have no principles whatsoever, an outcome even more likely when the teacher is also a bandit.

I happen to be pretty productive when I am in jail. When you are in jail, you have to spend more time with yourself.

I don't write to give joy to readers but to give them a conscience.

Every award for me is important because it means a slap against militarism and fascism in Indonesia.

The love I knew was from books..