Weekend Quote 6: Robinson Crusoe

This week I am reading Daniel Defoe’s masterpiece: Robinson Crusoe, the English man who lived alone on an isolated island after a ship wrecked for more than 20 years. Actually there are a lot of beautiful quotes here, but I picked one that touches me mostly. I read the Indonesian translation version, so I quote it in Bahasa Indonesia, and will explain the meaning in English (it’s hard to find the particular passage in the original book):

“Begitu kecilnya kita melihat ke depan di dunia, dan begitu banyaknya alasan yang kita miliki untuk bergantung dengan gembira pada Sang Pencipta dunia. Dia tidak meninggalkan makhluknya sangat kekurangan, tapi dalam kondisi terburuk mereka selalu punya sesuatu untuk disyukuri dan kadang lebih dekat ke keselamatan dibanding apa yang mereka bayangkan, tidak, bahkan dibawa pada keselamatan dengan cara yang menurut mereka akan membawa kehancuran bagi mereka.”

I know that Defoe did not write this book in good English, so I can understand that the translation process would not be easy. I often felt the sentences are weird, but it’s still understandable. I tried to translate the quote in English, although I’m sure you will not find this in the original version :)

“If we look at our life, we always have many reasons to hold on to our Creator. He never left His creatures to be in a deep sorrow; even in their worst situation, they would always have something to be grateful of; and sometimes they are very close to salvation, nearer than what they think—no, they are even brought to salvation in a way that they thought it would have brought them to their ruin.”

That was a very deep reflection from Crusoe after being isolated from civilization for almost three decades. A reflection that has brought him to a realization that God was not punishing him, but bringing him to salvation. I hope we don’t have to suffer like Crusoe to learn about this….

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