J. M. Coetzee Quotes
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.
Quotes to Explore
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I wrote in the cellar for a number of years. I needed a private space, and it had a furnace, so it was always warm.
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I refuse to accept other people's ideas of happiness for me. As if there's a 'one size fits all' standard for happiness.
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The humor is essentially dark for a cartoon and sophisticated. But at the same time, being a cartoon gives the writers more freedom than in a normal sitcom. It always pushes the line that, despite human failings, the Simpsons are really decent people.
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Each of us becomes a new person as we re-describe the past.
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Modesty means admitting the possibility of error, subsuming the self for the good of the whole, remaining open to surprise and the gifts that only failure can bring. There are many ways to practice it. Try taking up golf. Or making your own bagels. Or raising a teenager.
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I get really upset seeing my friends who are mums crying because they feel like they're not good enough. Clever, confident, kind young women all going, 'I'm ruining my child's life.'
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The old series of sittings with Mrs. Piper convinced me of survival for reasons which I should find it hard to formulate in any strict fashion, but that was their distinct effect.
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I make money using my brains and lose money listening to my heart. But in the long run my books balance pretty well.
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I have a ton of videos on MySpace and YouTube.
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Sometimes a woman's looks or sensuality are too readily wrapped up in their power.
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You want to read a book? That requires introspection. It requires time away from people and time away from the constant need to communicate and to connect.
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Everyone needs help when they try something new.
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My wife attends a Presbyterian church.
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Even President Obama has not suggested he could get another country to pay for building a wall between Mexico and the United States.
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Over a three year period, I gave away half of what I had. To be honest, my hands shook as I signed it away. I knew I was taking myself out of the race to be the richest man in the world.
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The haunting of history is ever present in Barcelona. I see cities as organisms, as living creatures. To me, Madrid is a man and Barcelona is a woman. And it's a woman who's extremely vain.
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I never watch MTV. I don't have time to watch TV. And when I do, I'm watching the Discovery Channel. 'Deadliest Catch: Crab Fishing in Alaska,' that's my show.
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No one is fit to judge a book until he has rounded Cape Horn in a sailing vessel, until he has bumped into two or three icebergs, until he has been lost in the sands of the desert, until he has spent a few years in the House of the Dead.
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Many a man thinks he is patient when, in reality, he is indifferent.
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It is a great evil, as well as a misfortune, to be unable to utter a prompt and decided 'no'.
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The essence of the conservative message should be we want a dynamic nation where anybody with nothing can achieve anything.
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I do not believe in psychology. And I believe in the power of God to heal minds without taking drugs that foul the mind and the body and the spirit. Taking drugs helps demons to control you and the only way to heal the trauma is to do Yogic Flying for three hours every day.
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Traveling and other cultures provide me with great inspiration, especially unusual people and cultures totally unlike my own. They generate many new ideas for me.
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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.
