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Quote by J. M. Coetzee

“It is a world of words that creates a world of things.”

Quote by J. M. Coetzee

Book:In The Heart Of The Country

Work

In The Heart Of The Country

This book explores the complexities of life in a remote countryside, delving into the lives of its inhabitants and the natural world around them. more

Author

J.M. Coetzee is a South African-born Australian novelist known for his profound psychological insights and critical exploration of South Africa's apartheid history. His works have won numerous literary awards, including the Nobel Prize in Literature. more

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“I am spoken to not in words, which come to me quaint and veiled, but in signs, in conformations of face and hands, in postures of shoulders and feet, in nuances of tune and tone, in gaps and absences whose grammar has never been recorded.”

Hands Faces Feet Absence Shoulders Tone Tunes Gaps Grammar Posture Nuance Quaint

Book:In the Heart of the Country: A Novel

Source: In the Heart of the Country: A Novel

“The barbarians come out at night.”

Night Barbarians

Author:J. M. Coetzee

“Artists no longer starve in garrets. Some people may think this is not wholly a good thing, that being an artist has become too comfortable, at least in the West. I'm not sure I agree. It's a mark of civilization to encourage the arts and the life of the mind.”

People Thinking Mind May Art Artist Civilization Comfortable Mark Agree Good Things West Not Sure Being An Artist

Author:J. M. Coetzee

“Can desire grow out of admiration, or are the two quite distinct species? What would it be like to lie side by side, naked, breast to breast, with a woman one principally admires?”

Two Lying Desire Grows Sides Species Naked Admire Breasts Admiration

Book:Slow Man

Source: Slow Man

“If you have reservations about the system and want to change it, the democratic argument goes, do so within the system: put yourself forward as a candidate for political office, subject yourself to the scrutiny and the vote of fellow citizens. Democracy does not allow for politics outside the democratic system. In this sense, democracy is totalitarian.”

Ifs Want Doe Political Democracy Subjects Citizens Office Argument Vote Fellows Democratic Candidates Scrutiny Reservations

Author:J. M. Coetzee

“Unbelief is a belief.”

Belief Unbelief

Author:J. M. Coetzee

“If I, this mortal shell, am going to die, let me at least live on through my creations.”

Ifs Dies Creation Let Me Mortals Shells

Author:J. M. Coetzee

“Long visits don't make for good friends.”

Long Good Friend

Book:Disgrâce

Source: Disgrâce

“Deprived of human intercourse, I inevitably overvalue the imagination and expect it to make the mundane glow with an aura of self-transcendence. Yet why these glorious sunsets, I ask myself, if nature does not speak to us with tongues of fire.”

Ifs Humans Doe Self Asks Speak Imagination Fire Tongue Glorious Sunset Deprived Transcendence Mundane Intercourse Auras

Book:In the Heart of the Country: A Novel

Source: In the Heart of the Country: A Novel

“The modern state appeals to morality, to religion, and to natural law as the ideological foundation of its existence. At the same time it is prepared to infringe any or all of these in the interest of self-preservation.”

Self States Law Interest Natural Existence Modern Morality Foundation Prepared Appeals Preservation Ideological Natural Law Self Preservation

Book:Diary of a Bad Year

Source: Diary of a Bad Year