Once I lived in time as a fish in water, breathing it, drinking it, sustained by it. Now I kill time and time kills me.
J. M. CoetzeeRead
One day some as yet unborn scholar will recognize in the clock the machine that has tamed the wilds.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The clock symbolizes human control over nature and the passage of time, reflecting our ability to tame the wildness around us.
In this quote, J. M. Coetzee suggests that the clock, often seen merely as a tool for measuring time, represents a deeper idea: that through the development of technology, humanity has managed to impose order on the chaotic aspects of the natural world. The unborn scholar signifies future generations who will appreciate this transformation and recognize the profound impact of such inventions on civilization.
Themes
ClockTimeNatureTechnologyControl
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech about the impact of technology on society, this quote can highlight how we shape our environment.
More from J. M. Coetzee
All quotes βChildren all over the world consort quite naturally with animals. They don't see any dividing line. That is something they have to be taught, just as they have to be taught it is all right to kill and eat them.
J. M. CoetzeeRead
The masters of information have forgotten about poetry, where words may have a meaning quite different from what the lexicon says, where the metaphoric spark is always one jump ahead of the decoding function, where another, unforeseen reading is always possible.
J. M. CoetzeeRead
My existence from day to day has become a matter of averting my eyes, of cringing. Death is the only truth left. Death is what I cannot bear to think. At every moment when I am thinking of something else, I am not thinking death, am not thinking the truth.
J. M. CoetzeeRead
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 least the idea of gardening; because once that cord was broken, the earth would grow hard and forget her children. That was why.
J. M. CoetzeeRead
Denunciations of the manipulativeness of advertisers can unfortunately all too easily be turned on their heads into denunciations of the gullibility of consumers. Both are forms of scapegoating, neither accomplishes anything.
J. M. CoetzeeRead
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