“In the act of writing he experiences, today, an exceptional sensual pleasure -- in the feel of the pen, snug in the crook of his thumb, but even more in the feel of his hand being tugged back lightly from its course across the page by the strict, unvarying shape of the letters, the discipline of the alphabet.”
― J.M. Coetzee, quote from The Master of Petersburg
“Ese es el gran secreto de las mujeres, eso es lo que les da ventaja sobre los hombres como nosotros. Saben cuándo ceder, cuándo echarse a llorar. Nosotros, tú y yo, no lo sabemos. Aguantamos, embotellamos la pena dentro de nosotros, la encerramos y cal y canto, hasta que se convierte en el mismísimo demonio. Y entonces nos da por cometer alguna estupidez, sólo con tal de librarnos de la pena, aunque no sea más que un par de horas. Sí, cometemos alguna estupidez que luego habremos de lamentar durante toda la vida. Las mujeres no son así, porque conocen el secreto de las lágrimas.”
― J.M. Coetzee, quote from The Master of Petersburg
“Stiff shoulders humped over the writing-table, and the ache of a heart slow to move. A tortoise heart.”
― J.M. Coetzee, quote from The Master of Petersburg
“He sits with the pen in his hand, holding himself back from a descent into representations that have no place in the world, on the point of toppling, enclosed within a moment in which all creations lies open at his feet, the moment before he loosens his grip and begins to fall.”
― J.M. Coetzee, quote from The Master of Petersburg
J.M. Coetzee
Born place: in Cape Town, South Africa
Born date February 9, 1940
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“ولی خب ، عجیب است تعریف چیزهای خوبی که آدم داشته و روزهای خوشی که گذرانده خیلی طول نمیکشد و زیاد هم شنیدنی نیست اما از چیزهای ناراحت کننده و دلهره آور و حتی فجیع ، قصه خوبی در می آید.”
― Chuck Dixon, quote from The Hobbit: Graphic Novel
“The way I see it,” she began, “your mother’s devoted her whole life to you kids.” She said “you kids”
in precisely the same tone I would have used for “you infestation of cockroaches”
― Jennifer Weiner, quote from Good in Bed
“What am I living for and what am I dying for are the same question.”
― Margaret Atwood, quote from The Year of the Flood
“Ha! to forget. How childish! I feel you in my bones. Your silence screams in my ears. You may nail your mouth shut, you may cut out your tongue, can you keep yourself from existing? Will you stop your thoughts.”
― Jean-Paul Sartre, quote from No Exit and Three Other Plays
“I'm not a liar, sir,' she said.
"'No, I'm sure you sincerely become whatever it is you're pretending to be.”
― Orson Scott Card, quote from Xenocide
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Genius: The Life and...BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.
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