“I see no marks of Wordsworths style of writing or style of thinking in my own work, yet Wordsworth is a constant presence when I write about human beings and their relations to the natural world.” ThinkingWorldWritingHumansNaturalMy OwnHuman BeingsStyleMarkRelationConstantNatural WorldWordsworth Author:J. M. Coetzee
“I tend to resist invitations to interpret my own fiction.” My OwnFictionInvitations Author:J. M. Coetzee
“My response, a dubious and hesitant one, is that it has been and may continue to be, in the time that is left to me, more productive to live out the question than to try to answer it in abstract terms.” TryingMayHas BeensLeftTermAnswersResponseAbstractProductiveDubiousHesitant Author:J. M. Coetzee
“If it is indeed impossible - or at least very difficult - to inhabit the consciousness of an animal, then in writing about animals there is a temptation to project upon them feelings and thoughts that may belong only to our own human mind and heart.” IfsWritingMindHumansHeartMayFeelingsDifficultAnimalConsciousnessImpossibleProjectsTemptationHuman MindHeart And Mind Author:J. M. Coetzee
“If there were a better, clearer, shorter way of saying what the fiction says, then why not scrap the fiction?” IfsWayFictionWhy NotScrap Author:J. M. Coetzee
“In its conception the literature prize belongs to days when a writer could still be thought of as, by virtue of his or her occupation, a sage, someone with no institutional affiliations who could offer an authoritative word on our times as well as on our moral life.” WellsStillsLiteratureMoralVirtueOffersOur TimePrizeOccupationConceptionSageAffiliationMoral Life Author:J. M. Coetzee
“As for September 11, let us not too easily grant the Americans possession of that date on the calendar. Like May 1 or July 14 or December 25, September 11 may seem full of significance to some people, while to other people it is just another day.” PeopleMaySeemsPossessionSignificanceGrantsSeptemberJulySeptember 11DecemberCalendarsAnother Day Author:J. M. Coetzee
“Strictly speaking, my interest is not in legal rights for animals but in a change of heart towards animals.” HeartInterestAnimalRightsChange Of HeartLegal Rights Author:J. M. Coetzee
“Somehow we find it hard to sell our values, namely that the rich should plunder the poor.” ShouldHardValuesPoorRichSellsPlunder Author:John Foster Dulles
“The United Nations represents not a final stage in the development of world order, but only a primitive stage. Therefore its primary task is to create the conditions which will make possible a more highly developed organization.” WorldOrderNationsUnitedConditionsStageDevelopmentTasksOrganizationFinalsPrimariesPrimitiveUnited NationsWorld Order Book:War Or Peace Source: War Or Peace