“Perhaps if one flew high enough, he thought, one would be able to see.”

—  J.M. Coetzee , book Life & Times of Michael K

Life & Times of Michael K (1983)
Context: I could live here forever, he thought, or till I die. Nothing would happen, every day would be the same as the day before, there would be nothing to say. The anxiety that belonged to the time on the road began to leave him. Sometimes, as he walked, he did not know whether he was awake or asleep. He could understand that people should have retreated here and fenced themselves in with miles and miles of silence; he could understand that they should have wanted to bequeath the privilege of so much silence to their children and grandchildren in perpetuity (though by what right he was not sure); he wondered whether there were not forgotten corners and angles and corridors between the fences, land that belonged to no one yet. Perhaps if one flew high enough, he thought, one would be able to see.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 3, 2021. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "Perhaps if one flew high enough, he thought, one would be able to see." by J.M. Coetzee?
J.M. Coetzee photo
J.M. Coetzee 61
South African writer 1940

Related quotes

“High high in the hills, high in a pine tree bed.
She's tracing the wind with that old hand, counting the clouds with that old chant,
Three geese in a flock
one flew east
one flew west
one flew over the cuckoo's nest”

Ken Kesey book One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Source: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest

Benny Hinn photo

“Adam was a super being when God created him…he had dominion over the fowls of the air which means he used to fly…well of course how could you have dominion over the birds and not be able to do what they do. Adam flew into space, with one thought he would be on the moon.”

Benny Hinn (1952) American-Canadian evangelist

[The Underground Christian Network, "Benny Hinn and Beyond: Word Faith movements hidden agenda: The Joker, The Guru and the Jack of Spades" http://www.sermonaudio.com/sermoninfo.asp?SID=420067844, CD Edition 1 of 2, SermonAudio.com, 2006-04-21]

Confucius photo

“If there were one word that could act as a standard of conduct for one's entire life, perhaps it would be 'thoughtfulness.”

Confucius (-551–-479 BC) Chinese teacher, editor, politician, and philosopher
A.A. Milne photo

“One day when Pooh was thinking, he thought he would go and see Eeyore, because he hadn't seen him since yesterday.”

A.A. Milne book The House at Pooh Corner

Source: The House at Pooh Corner (1928), Chapter Four.

“It is not enough to just think about the changes one would wish to see around oneself, when putting a positive and compassionate thought into action could make all the difference in the world.”

Stephie Pahlavi Zan

“It isn't necessary to make things large to make them monumental; a head by Giacometti one inch high would be able to vitalize this whole space.”

Hans Hofmann (1880–1966) American artist

As quoted in Can Painting be Taught by Dorothy Seckler, Art News No. 50 (March 1951), p. 64
1950s

“Come to the edge.
We might fall.
Come to the edge.
It's too high!
COME TO THE EDGE!
And they came
And he pushed
And they flew.”

Christopher Logue (1926–2011) Poet, screenwriter, actor

Originally written for a poster advertising an Apollinaire exhibition at the ICA in 1961 or 1962, and there titled "Apollinaire Said". The poem is therefore often misattributed to Guillaume Apollinaire. (Source: Quote…Unquote Newsletter, July 1995, p. 2).
Source: "Come to the Edge", from New Numbers (London: Jonathan Cape, 1969) pp. 65-66.

Guillaume Apollinaire photo

“Come to the edge.
We might fall.
Come to the edge.
It's too high!
COME TO THE EDGE!
And they came
And he pushed
And they flew.”

Guillaume Apollinaire (1880–1918) French poet

Christopher Logue's poem "Come to the Edge" from New Numbers (London: Cape, 1969) pp. 65-66. It was originally written for a poster advertising an Apollinaire exhibition at the ICA in 1961 or 1962, and was titled "Apollinaire Said"; hence it is often misattributed to Apollinaire (Source: Quote…Unquote Newsletter, July 1995, p. 2).
Misattributed

Paul Dirac photo

“One could perhaps describe the situation by saying that God is a mathematician of a very high order, and He used very advanced mathematics in constructing the universe.”

Paul Dirac (1902–1984) theoretical physicist

The Evolution of the Physicist's Picture of Nature (1963)
Context: It seems to be one of the fundamental features of nature that fundamental physical laws are described in terms of a mathematical theory of great beauty and power, needing quite a high standard of mathematics for one to understand it. You may wonder: Why is nature constructed along these lines? One can only answer that our present knowledge seems to show that nature is so constructed. We simply have to accept it. One could perhaps describe the situation by saying that God is a mathematician of a very high order, and He used very advanced mathematics in constructing the universe. Our feeble attempts at mathematics enable us to understand a bit of the universe, and as we proceed to develop higher and higher mathematics we can hope to understand the universe better.

Related topics