"You think you know what is just and……" — J M Coetzee

"You think you know what is just and what is not. I understand. We all think we know." I had no doubt, myself, then, that at each moment each one of us, man, woman, child, perhaps even the poor old horse turning the mill-wheel, knew what was just: all creatures come into the world bringing with them the memory of justice. "But we live in a world of laws," I said to my poor prisoner, "a world of the second-best. There is nothing we can do about that. We are fallen creatures. All we can do is to uphold the laws, all of us, without allowing the memory of justice to fade."

— J M Coetzee

All Quotes Allowing Quotes Best Quotes Bringing Quotes Child Quotes Child Perhaps Quotes Children Quotes Come Quotes Creatures Quotes Doubt Quotes Each Quotes Fade Quotes Fallen Quotes Fallen Creatures Quotes Horse Quotes I Said Quotes I Understand Quotes Into Quotes Justice Quotes Knew Quotes Know Quotes Law Quotes Laws Quotes Live Quotes Man Quotes Man Woman Quotes Memories Quotes Memory Quotes Men Quotes Men Women Quotes Mill Quotes Mill Wheel Quotes Mills Quotes Moment Quotes Moments Quotes My Poor Quotes Nothing Quotes Old Quotes Old Horse Quotes One Quotes Perhaps Quotes Perhaps Even Quotes Poor Quotes Poor Old Quotes Prisoner Quotes Said Quotes Second Quotes Second Best Quotes Them Quotes Think Quotes Think We Know Quotes Think You Quotes Think You Know Quotes Thinking Quotes Turning Quotes Understand Quotes Uphold Quotes Us Quotes We Know Quotes We Live Quotes Wheel Quotes Wheels Quotes Without Allowing Quotes Woman Quotes Woman Child Quotes World Quotes World Bringing Quotes You Know Quotes You Think Quotes You Think You Quotes You Think You Know Quotes

91 Quotes by J M Coetzee

J M Coetzee has 91 quotes on this site. A few more worth reading:

See all 91 quotes by J M Coetzee »

More All Quotes

This quote is filed under All Quotes, one of 128,558 quotes in that category. Here are a few more:

Total loyalty is possible only when fidelity is emptied of all concrete content, from which changes of mind might naturally… — Hannah Arendt
No cause is left but the most ancient of all, the one, in fact, that from the beginning of our… — Hannah Arendt
The ultimate end of human acts is eudaimonia, happiness in the sense of living well, which all men desire; all… — Hannah Arendt
The new always happens against the overwhelming odds of statistical laws and their probability, which for all practical, everyday purposes… — Hannah Arendt
Where all are guilty, no one is; confessions of collective guilt are the best possible safeguard against the discovery of… — Hannah Arendt
We have almost succeeded in leveling all human activities to the common denominator of securing the necessities of life and… — Hannah Arendt
I keep my friends as misers do their treasure, because, of all the things granted us by wisdom, none is… — Pietro Aretino
We must all make peace so that we can all live in peace. — Jean-Bertrand Aristide
The spirit of Ubuntu, that once led Haiti to emerge as the first independent black nation in 1804, helped Venezuela,… — Jean-Bertrand Aristide
As we all know, many people remain buried under tons of rubble and debris, waiting to be rescued. When we… — Jean-Bertrand Aristide
Wise people, even though all laws were abolished, would still lead the same life. — Aristophanes
A friend to all is a friend to none. — Aristotle

See all 128,558 All Quotes »