Quotes from The Master of Petersburg

J.M. Coetzee ·  256 pages

Rating: (2.4K votes)


“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


About the author

J.M. Coetzee
Born place: in Cape Town, South Africa
Born date February 9, 1940
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“You don’t have Facebook?”  I gasp. “How in the world do you know what’s going on with your friends if you don’t have Facebook?” “I call them and say ‘hey, what’s going on? How are things? Anything new?’” “Oh, yeah, I guess you could do that.” He squeezes my hand and chuckles.”
― Aurora Rose Reynolds, quote from Until Lilly


“So, Francine seems sweet.” -Kade
“I wouldn’t know, Mr. Grayson.  I haven’t tasted him yet.  However, if I do get the pleasure of that, I will let you know how sweet it is.” -Lainey”
― Christine Zolendz, quote from Brutally Beautiful


“One of the few advantages of being disliked is that you don’t need to fret over what others think about you.”
― Amish Tripathi, quote from Scion of Ikshvaku


“So when one spring in spite of all this good advice I fell in love, it felt like disaster. I took a tiny bite and it exploded in my stomach. Love splashed through every cranny, hauled on every muscle, unlocked every joint. I was so full of astonishment, I felt ten feet tall. My shoulders itched as if wings might break through.”
― Emma Donoghue, quote from Kissing the Witch: Old Tales in New Skins


“Once more I struck out into the ocean of space, heading for another near star. Once more I was disappointed.”
― Olaf Stapledon, quote from Star Maker


Interesting books

The Complete Short Novels
(10.1K)
The Complete Short N...
by Anton Chekhov
The Power of Intention: Learning to Co-create Your World Your Way
(24.6K)
The Power of Intenti...
by Wayne W. Dyer
Todos los fuegos el fuego
(5.9K)
Todos los fuegos el...
by Julio Cortázar
Ecce Homo
(8.3K)
Ecce Homo
by Friedrich Nietzsche
Parallel Lives
(1.2K)
Parallel Lives
by Plutarch
The Sweetest Game
(11.7K)
The Sweetest Game
by J. Sterling

About BookQuoters

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.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.