There is nothing more inimical to writing than the spirit of fundamentalism. Fundamentalism abhors the play of signs, the endlessness of writing. Fundamentalism means nothing more or less than going back to an origin and staying there. It stands for… — J. M. Coetzee Copy Share Image
“For I am no orator. What would I have said if they had let me go on? That it is worse to beat a… — J. M. Coetzee Copy Share
To me, a philosopher who says that the distinction between human and nonhuman depends on whether you have a white or a black skin,… — J. M. Coetzee Copy Share
The spark of true poetry flashes when ideas are juxtaposed that no one has yet thought of bringing together. — J. M. Coetzee Copy Share
“But with this woman it is as if there is no interior, only a surface across which I hunt back and forth seeking entry.… — J. M. Coetzee Copy Share
You think you know what is just and what is not. I understand. We all think we know." I had no doubt, myself, then,… — J. M. Coetzee Copy Share
The highest type of intelligence, says Aristotle, manifests itself in an ability to see connections where no one has seen them before, that is,… — J. M. Coetzee Copy Share
Elizabeth, Lady C, claims to be writing at the limits of language. Would it not be insulting to her if I were diligently to… — J. M. Coetzee Copy Share
Denunciations of the manipulativeness of advertisers can unfortunately all too easily be turned on their heads into denunciations of the gullibility of consumers. Both… — J. M. Coetzee Copy Share
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… — J. M. Coetzee Copy Share
What is miraculous about the past is that we have succeeded--God knows how--in making thousands and millions of individual human beings, lock well enought… — J. M. Coetzee Copy Share
...the program of scientific experimentation that leads you to conclude that animals are imbeciles is profoundly anthropocentric. It values being able to find your… — J. M. Coetzee Copy Share
The mode of consciousness of nonhuman species is quite different from human consciousness. — J. M. Coetzee Copy Share
“The Empire does not require that its servants love each other, merely that they perform their duty.” — J. M. Coetzee Copy Share
The most important of all rights is the right to life, and I cannot foresee a day when domesticated animals will be granted that… — J. M. Coetzee Copy Share
