He thought of himself not as something heavy that left tracks behind it, but if anything, as a speck upon the surface of an earth too deeply asleep t… - J. M. Coetzee

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He thought of himself not as something heavy that left tracks behind it, but if anything, as a speck upon the surface of an earth too deeply asleep to notice the scratch of ant feet, the rasp of butterfly teeth, the tumbling of dust

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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.

Biography information from Wikiquote

Also Known As

Native Name: John Maxwell Coetzee
Alternative Names: John Coetzee • J.M. Coetzee
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Additional quotes by J. M. Coetzee

I don't think we are ready to die, any of us, not without being escorted.
Disgrace · August 30, 2005 Verified in 1 source Sign up to see the complete provenance
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You are going to end up as one of those sad old men who poke around in rubbish bins.”

“I’m going to end up in a hole in the ground... And so are you. So are we all.
Disgrace · August 30, 2005 Verified in 1 source Sign up to see the complete provenance
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Words are coin. Words alienate. Language is no medium for desire. Desire is rapture, not exchange. It is only by alienating the desired that language masters it. The frenzy of desire in the medium of words yields the mania of the catalogue. I struggle with the proverbs of hell.
In the Heart of the Country · October 4, 2004 Verified in 1 source Sign up to see the complete provenance
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