# Quote — J. M. Coetzee, Disgrace

> Don’t expect sympathy from me, David, and don’t expect sympathy from anyone else either. No sympathy, no mercy, not in this day and age. Everyone’s hand will be against you, and why not? Really, how could you

- Author: [J. M. Coetzee](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee.md)
- Book: [Disgrace](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/disgrace.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._M._Coetzee#Disgrace_(1999)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/disgrace/dont-expect-sympathy

## More from this book

> Because he takes pleasure in her, because his pleasure is unfailing, an affection has grown up in him for her. To some degree, he believes, this affection is reciprocated. Affection may not be love, but it is at least its cousin.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/disgrace/because-he-takes.md)

> Talking to Petrus is like punching a bag of sand.
>
> 'Are you giving him up?'
>
> 'Yes, I am giving him up.'

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/disgrace/talking-to-petrus.md)

> "Why? Because a woman's beauty does not belong to her alone. It is part of the bounty she brings into the world. She has a duty to share it."

p. 16 — [Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/disgrace/why-because-a-womans.md)