# Quote — J. M. Coetzee, Slow Man

> Paul here is unhappy because unhappiness is second nature to him but more particularly because he has not the faintest idea of how to bring about his heart's desire. And I am unhappy because nothing is happening. Four people in four corners, moping, like tramps in Beckett, and myself in the middle, wasting time, being wasted by time.

- Author: [J. M. Coetzee](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee.md)
- Book: [Slow Man](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/slow-man.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/J._M._Coetzee#Slow_Man_(2005)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/slow-man/paul-here-is-unhappy

## More from this book

> Our lies reveal as much about us as our truths.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/slow-man/our-lies-reveal.md)

> But truth is not spoken in anger. Truth is spoken, if it ever comes to be spoken, in love.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/slow-man/but-truth-is-not.md)

> Can desire grow out of admiration, or are the two quite distinct species? What would it be like to lie side by side, naked, breast to breast, with a woman one principally admires?

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/j-m-coetzee/slow-man/can-desire-grow.md)