J. M. Coetzee

Elizabeth, Lady C, claims to be writing at the limits of language. Would it not be insulting to her if I were diligently to follow after her, explaining what she means but is not smart enough to say? ↗

— J. M. Coetzee

#claims #diligently #elizabeth #enough #explaining

I say that I represent this movement because my intellectual allegiances are clearly European, not African. ↗

— J. M. Coetzee

#because #clearly #european #i #intellectual

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. ↗

— J. M. Coetzee

#beings #constant #human #human beings #i

I tend to resist invitations to interpret my own fiction. ↗

— J. M. Coetzee

#i #interpret #invitations #my own #own

If there were a better, clearer, shorter way of saying what the fiction says, then why not scrap the fiction? ↗

— J. M. Coetzee

#clearer #fiction #saying #says #scrap

In order to be cruel we have to close our hearts to the suffering of the other. ↗

— J. M. Coetzee

#cruel #hearts #order #other #our

Strictly speaking, my interest is not in legal rights for animals but in a change of heart towards animals. ↗

— J. M. Coetzee

#heart #interest #legal #legal rights #rights

The idea of writer as sage is pretty much dead today. I would certainly feel very uncomfortable in the role. ↗

— J. M. Coetzee

#dead #feel #i #idea #much

The mode of consciousness of nonhuman species is quite different from human consciousness. ↗

— J. M. Coetzee

#different #human #human consciousness #human species #mode

The most important of all rights is the right to life, and I cannot foresee a day when domesticated animals will be granted that right in law. ↗

— J. M. Coetzee

#day #domesticated #foresee #granted #i