J.M. Coetzee Quotes

Top 100 wise famous quotes and sayings by J.M. Coetzee

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J.M. Coetzee Famous Quotes & Sayings

Discover top inspirational quotes from J.M. Coetzee on Wise Famous Quotes.

J.M. Coetzee quotes: I said to myself, 'If you don't sit down to it today, when will you ever sit down to it?' I said to myself, 'If you don't sit down to it today, when will you ever sit down to it?'
J.M. Coetzee quotes: The idea of writer as sage is pretty much dead today. I would certainly feel very uncomfortable in the role. The idea of writer as sage is pretty much dead today. I would certainly feel very uncomfortable in the role.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Is this love - this easy generosity, this sense of being understood at last, of not having to pretend? Is this love - this easy generosity, this sense of being understood at last, of not having to pretend?
J.M. Coetzee quotes: From the oppression of such freedom who would not welcome the liberation of confinement? From the oppression of such freedom who would not welcome the liberation of confinement?
J.M. Coetzee quotes: The secret of happiness is not doing what we like but in liking what we do. The secret of happiness is not doing what we like but in liking what we do.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: From one seed a whole handful: that was what it meant to say the bounty of the earth. From one seed a whole handful: that was what it meant to say the bounty of the earth.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Once I lived in time as a fish in water, breathing it, drinking it, sustained by it. Now I kill time and time kills me. Once I lived in time as a fish in water, breathing it, drinking it, sustained by it. Now I kill time and time kills me.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: The Empire does not require that its servants love each other, merely that they perform their duty. The Empire does not require that its servants love each other, merely that they perform their duty.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: He does not know what freedom is. Freedom is a word, less than a word, a noise, one of the multitude of noises I make when I open my mouth. He does not know what freedom is. Freedom is a word, less than a word, a noise, one of the multitude of noises I make when I open my mouth.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: If i were pressed to give my brand of political thought a label, I would call it pessimistic anarchistic quietism If i were pressed to give my brand of political thought a label, I would call it pessimistic anarchistic quietism
J.M. Coetzee quotes: I am corrupted to the bone with the beauty of this forsaken world. I am corrupted to the bone with the beauty of this forsaken world.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Perhaps; but I am a difficult person to live with. My difficulty consists in not wanting to live with other people. Perhaps; but I am a difficult person to live with. My difficulty consists in not wanting to live with other people.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: All is allegory ... Each creature is key to all other creatures. All is allegory ... Each creature is key to all other creatures.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: When we are stirred to lament the loss of the gods, it is more than likely the gods who are doing the stirring. When we are stirred to lament the loss of the gods, it is more than likely the gods who are doing the stirring.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: For a man of his age, fifty-two, divorced, he has, to his mind, solved the problem of sex rather well. For a man of his age, fifty-two, divorced, he has, to his mind, solved the problem of sex rather well.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: I hope that in the afterlife we will get a chance, each of us, to say our sorries to the people we have wronged. I hope that in the afterlife we will get a chance, each of us, to say our sorries to the people we have wronged.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Vengeance is like a fire. The more it devours, the hungrier it gets. Vengeance is like a fire. The more it devours, the hungrier it gets.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: I have a desire to be saved which I must call immoderate. I have a desire to be saved which I must call immoderate.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Sleep is no longer a healing bath, a recuperation of vital forces, but an oblivion, a nightly brush with annihilation. Sleep is no longer a healing bath, a recuperation of vital forces, but an oblivion, a nightly brush with annihilation.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: The sun's touch is kind. The sun's touch is kind.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: We are the great miracle of creation! But from some blows this miraculous body cannot repair itself! We are the great miracle of creation! But from some blows this miraculous body cannot repair itself!
J.M. Coetzee quotes: I don't think we are ready to die, any of us, not without being escorted. I don't think we are ready to die, any of us, not without being escorted.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Belief may be no more, in the end, than a source of energy, like a battery which one clips into an idea to make it run. Belief may be no more, in the end, than a source of energy, like a battery which one clips into an idea to make it run.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: This is what it leads to! This is what it leads to if you let your attention wander for a moment! This is what it leads to! This is what it leads to if you let your attention wander for a moment!
J.M. Coetzee quotes: How many people are there left who are neither locked up nor standing guard at the gate? How many people are there left who are neither locked up nor standing guard at the gate?
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Can he find it in his heart to love this plain, ordinary woman? Can he love her enough to write a music for her? If he cannot, what is left Can he find it in his heart to love this plain, ordinary woman? Can he love her enough to write a music for her? If he cannot, what is left for him?
J.M. Coetzee quotes: We are not by nature cruel. We are not by nature cruel.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: What I did not know was how longing could store itself away in the hollows of one's bones and then one day without warning flood out. What I did not know was how longing could store itself away in the hollows of one's bones and then one day without warning flood out.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: The end of confession is to tell the truth to and for oneself. The end of confession is to tell the truth to and for oneself.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: ... but what do slow and fast matter any more? ... but what do slow and fast matter any more?
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Pain is truth; all else is subject to doubt. Pain is truth; all else is subject to doubt.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: The spark of true poetry flashes when ideas are juxtaposed that no one has yet thought of bringing together. The spark of true poetry flashes when ideas are juxtaposed that no one has yet thought of bringing together.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: We can pretend that the book in question is not Mr. West's but mine, made mine by the madness of my reading. We can pretend that the book in question is not Mr. West's but mine, made mine by the madness of my reading.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: What more is required than a kind of stupid, insensitive doggedness, as lover, as writer, together with a readiness to fail and fail again? What more is required than a kind of stupid, insensitive doggedness, as lover, as writer, together with a readiness to fail and fail again?
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Well, that is what you risk when you fall in love. You risk losing your dignity. Well, that is what you risk when you fall in love. You risk losing your dignity.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: What does he know of the force that drives the utmost strangers into each other's arms, making them kin, kind, beyond all prudence? What does he know of the force that drives the utmost strangers into each other's arms, making them kin, kind, beyond all prudence?
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Whatever does not kill me makes me stronger. Whatever does not kill me makes me stronger.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Because a woman's beauty does not belong to her alone. It is a part of the bounty she brings into the world. She has a duty to share it. Because a woman's beauty does not belong to her alone. It is a part of the bounty she brings into the world. She has a duty to share it.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Our lies reveal as much about us as our truths Our lies reveal as much about us as our truths
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Truly, the world ought to belong to the singers and dancers! Truly, the world ought to belong to the singers and dancers!
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Deprived of human intercourse, I inevitably overvalue the imagination and expect it to make the mundane glow with an aura of self-transcendence. Deprived of human intercourse, I inevitably overvalue the imagination and expect it to make the mundane glow with an aura of self-transcendence.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: He knows too much about himself to subject her to a morning after, when he will be cold, surly, impatient to be alone. He knows too much about himself to subject her to a morning after, when he will be cold, surly, impatient to be alone.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: If I, this mortal shell, am going to die, let me at least live on through my creations. If I, this mortal shell, am going to die, let me at least live on through my creations.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: I am now no more than a pile of blood, bone and meat that is unhappy. I am now no more than a pile of blood, bone and meat that is unhappy.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Charakter ist Schicksal. Historie ist Gott. Charakter ist Schicksal. Historie ist Gott.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: [Hariharan is] an outstanding writer. [Hariharan is] an outstanding writer.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: (I)f we are going to be kind, let it be out of simple generosity, not because we fear guilt or retribution. (I)f we are going to be kind, let it be out of simple generosity, not because we fear guilt or retribution.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: I must not fall asleep in the middle of my life. I must not fall asleep in the middle of my life.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: There is no home left for universal souls, except perhaps in Antarctica or on the high seas. There is no home left for universal souls, except perhaps in Antarctica or on the high seas.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: All creatures come into the world bringing with them the memory of justice. All creatures come into the world bringing with them the memory of justice.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Stiff shoulders humped over the writing-table, and the ache of a heart slow to move. A tortoise heart. Stiff shoulders humped over the writing-table, and the ache of a heart slow to move. A tortoise heart.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: For, seen from the outside, from a being who is alien to it, reason is simply a vast tautology. For, seen from the outside, from a being who is alien to it, reason is simply a vast tautology.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: If there were a better, clearer, shorter way of saying what the fiction says, then why not scrap the fiction? If there were a better, clearer, shorter way of saying what the fiction says, then why not scrap the fiction?
J.M. Coetzee quotes: I have never seen anything like it: two little discs of glass suspended in front of his eyes in loops of wire. Is he blind? I have never seen anything like it: two little discs of glass suspended in front of his eyes in loops of wire. Is he blind?
J.M. Coetzee quotes: How easy it is to love a child, how hard to love what a child turns into! How easy it is to love a child, how hard to love what a child turns into!
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Freud's warning that what I omit without thinking (i.e. without conscious thought) may be the key to the deepest truth about me? Freud's warning that what I omit without thinking (i.e. without conscious thought) may be the key to the deepest truth about me?
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Kafka saw both himself and Red Peter as hybrids, as monstrous thinking devices mounted inexplicably on suffering animal bodies. Kafka saw both himself and Red Peter as hybrids, as monstrous thinking devices mounted inexplicably on suffering animal bodies.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: And anyway, I suspect he secretly liked it when a woman was cold and distant And anyway, I suspect he secretly liked it when a woman was cold and distant
J.M. Coetzee quotes: When death cuts all other links, there remains the name. Baptism: the union of a soul with a name, the name it will carry into eternity. When death cuts all other links, there remains the name. Baptism: the union of a soul with a name, the name it will carry into eternity.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: I am not the we of anyone I am not the we of anyone
J.M. Coetzee quotes: We must cultivate, all of us, a certain ignorance, a certain blindness, or society will not be tolerable. We must cultivate, all of us, a certain ignorance, a certain blindness, or society will not be tolerable.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Is that the secret meaning of the word story, do you think: a storing place of memories? Is that the secret meaning of the word story, do you think: a storing place of memories?
J.M. Coetzee quotes: I tend to resist invitations to interpret my own fiction. I tend to resist invitations to interpret my own fiction.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: I truly believe I am not afraid of death. What I shrink from, I believe, is the shame of dying as stupid and befuddled as I am. I truly believe I am not afraid of death. What I shrink from, I believe, is the shame of dying as stupid and befuddled as I am.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: No papers, no money; no family, no friends, no sense of who you are. The obscurest of the obscure, so obscure as to be a prodigy. No papers, no money; no family, no friends, no sense of who you are. The obscurest of the obscure, so obscure as to be a prodigy.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: If there is ever a word of criticism of America, it is of the most muted kind. If there is ever a word of criticism of America, it is of the most muted kind.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Women are sensitive to it, to the weight of the desiring gaze. Women are sensitive to it, to the weight of the desiring gaze.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: The barbarians come out at night. The barbarians come out at night.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Perhaps it does us good to have a fall every now and then. As long as we don't break. Perhaps it does us good to have a fall every now and then. As long as we don't break.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: I say that I represent this movement because my intellectual allegiances are clearly European, not African. I say that I represent this movement because my intellectual allegiances are clearly European, not African.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: The mode of consciousness of nonhuman species is quite different from human consciousness. The mode of consciousness of nonhuman species is quite different from human consciousness.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Reason is simply a vast tautology. Reason is simply a vast tautology.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Do you hope you can expiate the crimes of the past by suffering in the present? Do you hope you can expiate the crimes of the past by suffering in the present?
J.M. Coetzee quotes: To be full of being is to live as a body-soul. One name for the experience of full being is joy. To be full of being is to live as a body-soul. One name for the experience of full being is joy.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Strictly speaking, my interest is not in legal rights for animals but in a change of heart towards animals. Strictly speaking, my interest is not in legal rights for animals but in a change of heart towards animals.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: A book should be an axe to chop open the frozen sea inside us. A book should be an axe to chop open the frozen sea inside us.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: One must love what is nearest, one must love what is to hand, as a dog loves". One must love what is nearest, one must love what is to hand, as a dog loves".
J.M. Coetzee quotes: It occurs to me that we crush insects beneath our feet, miracles of creation too, beetles, worms, cockroaches, ants, in their various ways. It occurs to me that we crush insects beneath our feet, miracles of creation too, beetles, worms, cockroaches, ants, in their various ways.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: A fool in love is laughed at but in the end always forgiven A fool in love is laughed at but in the end always forgiven
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Unimaginable perhaps; but the unimaginable is there to be imagined. Unimaginable perhaps; but the unimaginable is there to be imagined.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: I know somewhat too much; and from this knowledge, once one has been infected, there seems to be no recovering. I know somewhat too much; and from this knowledge, once one has been infected, there seems to be no recovering.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Faith means believing in what you do even when it does not bear visible fruit. Faith means believing in what you do even when it does not bear visible fruit.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Poetry speaks to you either at first sight or not at all. A flash of revelation and a flash of response. Poetry speaks to you either at first sight or not at all. A flash of revelation and a flash of response.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: In order to be cruel we have to close our hearts to the suffering of the other. In order to be cruel we have to close our hearts to the suffering of the other.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Flowers grow best on dungheaps, as Shakespeare never tires of saying. Flowers grow best on dungheaps, as Shakespeare never tires of saying.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: The truth is, he tired of criticism, tired of prose measured by the yard.Disgrace The truth is, he tired of criticism, tired of prose measured by the yard.
Disgrace
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Become major, Paul. Live like a hero. That's what the classics teach us. Be a main character. Otherwise what is life for? Become major, Paul. Live like a hero. That's what the classics teach us. Be a main character. Otherwise what is life for?
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Long visits don't make for good friends. Long visits don't make for good friends.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: One day some as yet unborn scholar will recognize in the clock the machine that has tamed the wilds. One day some as yet unborn scholar will recognize in the clock the machine that has tamed the wilds.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: The jackal rips out the hare's bowels, but the world rolls on. The jackal rips out the hare's bowels, but the world rolls on.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: I speak to the broken halves of all our selves and tell them to embrace, loving the worst in us equally with the best. I speak to the broken halves of all our selves and tell them to embrace, loving the worst in us equally with the best.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: I do not believe that any form of lasting community can exist where people do not share the same sense of what is just and what is not just. I do not believe that any form of lasting community can exist where people do not share the same sense of what is just and what is not just.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Jokes, secrets, complicities; a glance here, a word there: that is their way of being together, of being apart. Jokes, secrets, complicities; a glance here, a word there: that is their way of being together, of being apart.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: ...she prefers to think in similitudes rather than reason things out... ...she prefers to think in similitudes rather than reason things out...
J.M. Coetzee quotes: In the night I took a lantern and went to see for myself. In the night I took a lantern and went to see for myself.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: If you are not fully in the game you are playing, however, you are not truly playing it. If you are not fully in the game you are playing, however, you are not truly playing it.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: All autobiography is storytelling; all writing is autobiography. All autobiography is storytelling; all writing is autobiography.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Affection may not be love, but it is at least its cousin. Affection may not be love, but it is at least its cousin.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: If only we could eat our sunsets, I say, we would all be full. If only we could eat our sunsets, I say, we would all be full.
J.M. Coetzee quotes: Unbelief is a belief. Unbelief is a belief.

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