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J. M. Coetzee

J. M. Coetzee Quotes

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Famous J. M. Coetzee Quotes

“His mouth opens. From inside him comes a slow stream, without breath, without interruption. It flows up through his body and out upon me; it passes through the cabin, through the wreck; washing the cliffs and shores of the island, it runs northward and southward to the ends of the earth. Soft and cold, dark and unending, it beats against my eyelids, against the skin of my face.”

EndsBodyRunningEarthFacesDarkColdBeatsMouthsFlowSkinsBreathsIslandsStreamsShoreCliffsWrecksWashingInterruptionsUnendingCabinsEyelids
Book:Foe: A Novel
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“That was our first time together. Interesting, an interesting experience, but not earth-shaking. But then, I never expected it to be earth-shaking, not with him. What I was determined to avoid was emotional entanglement. A passing fling was one thing, an affair of the heart quite another. Of myself I was fairly sure. I was not about to lose my heart to a man about whom I knew next to nothing.”

MenFirstsHeartEarthTogetherNextLosesInterestingOne ThingEmotionalMy HeartFirst TimeAffairDeterminedExpectedPassingPassingsShakingFlingTime TogetherEntanglementAffairs Of The Heart
Author:J. M. Coetzee
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“Speaking the words he had been taught, directing them no longer upward but to the earth on which he knelt, he prayed: 'For what we are about to receive make us truly thankful.' ... he... felt his heart suddenly flow over with thankfulness... like a gush of warm water... All that remains is to live here quietly for the rest of my life, eating food that my own labour has made the earth to yield. All that remains is to be a tender of the soil.”

HeartMadeEarthFeltWaterMy OwnTaughtEatingGardenFlowRemainsWarmSoilLabourYieldGardeningThankfulnessEating FoodAll That Remains
Author:J. M. Coetzee
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“He even knew the reason why: because enough men had gone off to war saying the time for gardening was when the war was over; whereas there must be men to stay behind and keep gardening alive, or at least the idea of gardening; because once that cord was broken, the earth would grow hard and forget her children. That was why.”

MenChildrenIdeasWarHardReasonEnoughEarthGrowsForgetBehindsGoneAliveBrokenGardenReason WhyGardeningBe A ManCords
Book:Life & Times of Michael K.: A Novel
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