I want to find a way of speaking to fellow human beings that will be cool rather than heated, philosophical rather than polemical, that will bring enlightenment rather than seeking to divide us into the righteous and the sinners, the saved and the damned, the sheep and the goats.
animal-cruelty nature philosophy

About This Quote

About J.M. Coetzee

J.M. Coetzee was a contemporary Australian and australian writer and scholar. John Maxwell Coetzee AC FRSL OMG is a South African and Australian novelist, essayist, linguist, and translator. The recipient of the 2003 Nobel Prize in Literature, Coetzee is one of the most critically acclaimed and decorated authors in the English language. Read more on Wikipedia →

Themes

  • Nature — Appreciation for the natural world and our place within it
  • Philosophy — Deep thoughts on existence, knowledge, and the nature of reality

More quotes by J.M. Coetzee

“The secret of happiness is not doing what we like but in liking what we do.”
— J.M. Coetzee
happiness

“Asymmetrie [macht] Menschen unglcklich.”
— J.M. Coetzee
beauty happiness

“Music expresses feeling, that is to say, gives shape and habitation to feeling, not in space but in time. To the extent that music has a history that is more than a history of its formal evolution,...”
— J.M. Coetzee
music

“Die Wahrheit wird nicht im Zorn gesprochen. Die Wahrheit, wenn sie denn gesprochen wird, wird im Geist der Liebe gesprochen.”
— J.M. Coetzee
love truth

“He even knew the reason why: because enough men had gone off to war saying the time for gardening was when the war was over; whereas there must be men to stay behind and keep gardening alive, or at...”
— J.M. Coetzee
earth gardening war

“I truly believe I am not afraid of death. What I shrink from, I believe, is the shame of dying as stupid and befuddled as I am.”
— J.M. Coetzee
death shame
View all quotes by J.M. Coetzee →

Related Quotes

“Embrace compassion without exception.”
— Janice Anderson
animal-cruelty compassion compassion-quotes enlightenment

“Unnecessary violence against animals is a heinous crime. Be a voice for those who do not have one.”
— Debasish Mridha
animal-cruelty be-a-voice-for-animals debasish-mridha debasish-mridha-md

“Life is as precious to us as it is for an animal. An animal is as loving, caring, and kind to her children as we are. She might not be able to tell us but she can express it through her eyes and ex...”
— Debasish Mridha
animal-cruelty be-kind-to-animals debasish-mridha debasish-mridha-md

“Today I want to belong. I want to feel safe and at home. I want to be aware of what it is like simply to be, without defenses or desires. I will appreciate the flow of life for what it is-my own tr...”
— Deepak Chopra
nature prayer spirituality

“Nature reflects the moods of the wizard.”
— Deepak Chopra
nature spirituality

“My calling ties me to no office, makes me no man's slave, compels me to no action which my soul condemns. It sets me free from town life, which I loathe; and allows me to breathe clean air, to exer...”
— J.H.B Peel
nature outside work

“I have little use for religion as it is practiced, or for astrology, or for belief in witchcraft or omens of good or ill-luck. I think they all stem from some insufficiency in mens minds, perhaps f...”
— Winston Graham, The Black Moon
philosophy religion ross-poldark spirituality

“It is only the innocent mind which knows what love is, and the innocent mind can live in the world which is not innocent.”
— Jiddu Krishnamurti
philosophy spirituality

“So if you can look at all things without allowing pleasure to creep in - at a face, a bird, the colour of a sari, the beauty of a sheet of water shimmering in the sun, or anything that gives deligh...”
— Jiddu Krishnamurti
philosophy spirituality