Mumbling obeisance to abhorrence of apartheid is like those lapsed believers who cross themselves when entering a church. Nadine Gordimer More Quotes by Nadine Gordimer More Quotes From Nadine Gordimer Written words still have the amazing power to bring out the best and worst of human nature Nadine Gordimer worsthuman-naturehumans The solitude of writing is also quite frightening. It's quite close to madness, one just disappears for a day and loses touch. Nadine Gordimer madnesssolitudewriting The facts are always less than what really happened. Nadine Gordimer happenedfacts When I was a child, we seemed to be living in a world remote from the rest of the world. But television has made a great difference to all of us. Nadine Gordimer differenceschildrentelevision The creative act is not pure. History evidences it. Ideology demands it. Society exacts it. Nadine Gordimer demandcreativitycreative Power is something of which I am convinced there is no innocence this side of the womb. Nadine Gordimer innocencepowersides Sentiment is for those who don't know what to do next. Nadine Gordimer bonsaibleachnext A child understands fear, and the hurt and hate it brings. Nadine Gordimer hurtfearchildren It's easier for the former masters to put aside the masks that hid their humanity than for the former slaves to recognise the faces underneath. Or to trust that this is not a new mask these are wearing. Nadine Gordimer slavehumanityfaces what a writer does is to try to make sense of life. I think that's what writing is, I think that's what painting is. It's seeking that thread of order and logic in the disorder, and the incredible waste and marvelous profligate character of life. What all artists are trying to do is to make sense of life. Nadine Gordimer artistwritingcharacter The caged eagle become a metaphor for all forms of isolation, the ultimate in imprisonment. A zoo is prison. Nadine Gordimer eaglesprisonzoos Writing is always a voyage of discovery. Nadine Gordimer voyageswritingdiscovery Everyone ends up moving alone towards the self Nadine Gordimer endsselfmoving If you look at the recent Nobel Prize winners, one couldn't say that the work didn't matter and the political commitment did. Who had ever heard of the Egyptian writer Naguib Mahfouz? He is not politically involved. Octavio Paz is a great poet, also not politically involved. The Nobel Prize is for literature, for the quality of work over the years. Nadine Gordimer politicalcommitmentyears A desert is a place without expectation. Nadine Gordimer desertexpectations Mostly I'm interviewed by white people, and identified with white society. Nadine Gordimer whitepeople I decided that I wanted nothing to do with South African government television while any of my fellow writers were banned and couldn't speak publicly. Nadine Gordimer governmentspeaktelevision It's absolutely fatal to your writing to think about how your work will be received. It's a betrayal of whatever talent you have. Nadine Gordimer betrayalwritingthinking I'm a candle flame that sways in currents of air you can't see. You need to be the one who steadies me to burn. Nadine Gordimer flamesairneeds Can you imagine a writer in England influencing? Absolutely not. And in France? It used to be, but no more-absolutely not. France used to, at least, have writers as diplomats, but not any more. Nadine Gordimer diplomatsfranceengland
