J. M. Coetzee Quotes

I think secretly I've realized after my time on the planet that I have no control over what people feel about me or need from me, so I just have a more laid-back approach in my apologies.

I don't take anything personally.

Never lie down with a woman who's got more troubles than you.

i have come to terms with my life, and that is my affair - i am not cold, i swear, but i have decided certain things, it is best for me to ignore emotion; i have not been happy dealing with it.

When you make it a strong habit not to take anything personally, you avoid many upsets in your life. Your anger, jealousy, and envy will disappear, and even your sadness will simply disappear if you don't take things personally.

There are things that you can't do - like writing letters to a part of yourself. To your feet or hair. Or heart.

I always think before I speak. I'm not the sort who will just say anything that comes to my mind. I'm a very emotional and sensitive person. But I'm also very strong and know my mind well.

Remember, no one can hurt your feelings without your permission

Whatever happens around you, don't take it personally... Nothing other people do is because of you. It is because of themselves.

I'm afraid if I listen to my heart once, I'll never figure out how to ignore it again.

Detachment doesn't mean I'm trying less hard. It just means that fears and emotions that used to torment and paralyze me no longer have the same power over me. Getting to this point hasn't always been easy; it took me years to really learn to silence my mind. But as you move through your career and your life, you will have to learn that if you're not what you do, then what you do has no business keeping you entertained at night.

Body or mind, heart or soul, we're all human, and we're supposed to feel pain. You cut yourself off from it at your own risk.

I'm never hard on people just because they annoy me on the show. I'm not emotional when I'm professional. Do I think there are people on the show who need to go home sooner than they do? Yes. I do. but I'm there to be professional and to be a judge and to give them my advice and my help and I take my job really seriously.

Never, ever allow yourself to feel. Feelings kill.

Your feelings are none of your business.

What dangers you run, O noble souls! Often, you give your heart, but we take only your body. Your heart is left to you and you look at it in the shadows and shudder.

I'm not angry. I can't sing that loud for that long anyway, I'll start coughing - I don't have the instrument for it. I don't feel that emotional. I'm at peace.

But I'm not superstitious. I don't really eat dinner before I go on stage, because digesting a lot of food kind of shuts you down. And I try not to get involved in emotional conversations with anyone beforehand either, so I've got a clear head.

I want people to like me - but not at my expense. I just learned that there are too many people who are going to have an opinion about me whether I am kind to them or not. I can't control what they're feeling. I am not a yeller and I don't have a temper, but I do want people to do their best. And if someone is a friend and I see that they're doing stuff that is not helping them grow, I will make it a point to talk to them about it.

I won't let love disrupt, corrupt, or interrupt me.

I think I've had very knee-jerk emotional reactions to things, and sometimes I've said things without thinking. Being overly emotional clouded my judgment.

I don't ever be trippin off of what ain't mine.

The power men possess to annoy me I give them by a weak curiosity

I do not take things to the heart. I calculate and I do what needs to be done. If I were to start acting emotionally, it would destroy my work.

It is not the actions of others which trouble us (for those actions are controlled by their governing part), but rather it is our own judgments. Therefore remove those judgments and resolve to let go of your anger, and it will already be gone. How do you let go? By realizing that such actions are not shameful to you.