As during the time of kings it would have been naive to thi… - J. M. Coetzee

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As during the time of kings it would have been naive to think that the king’s firstborn son would be the fittest to rule, so in our time it is naive to think that the democratically elected ruler will be the fittest. The rule of succession is not a formula for identifying the best ruler, it is a formula for conferring legitimacy on someone or other and thus forestalling civil conflict.

J. M. Coetzee

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About J. M. Coetzee

John Maxwell Coetzee (born 9 February 1940), often called J. M. Coetzee, is a South African-born writer and academic. A novelist and literary critic as well as a translator, Coetzee won the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature. He now lives in Australia.

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Also Known As

Native Name: John Maxwell Coetzee

Alternative Names: John Coetzee • J.M. Coetzee

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Margaret Atwood William Faulkner Ursula K. Le Guin E. M. Forster John Steinbeck

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As during the time of kings it would have been naive to think that the king’s firstborn son would be the fittest to rule, so in our time it is naive … - J. M. Coetzee

About J. M. Coetzee

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