A child understands fear, and the hurt and hate it brings.

— Nadine Gordimer

A truly living human being cannot remain neutral.

— Nadine Gordimer

But a human being, she, she, cannot simply exist; she is a hurricane, every thought bending and crossing its coherence inside her, nothing will let her be, not for a moment. Every emotion, every thought, is invaded by another.

— Nadine Gordimer

Communists are the last optimists.

— Nadine Gordimer

Death is really the mystery of life, isn't it?

— Nadine Gordimer

Every morning, when people are getting up in the tent, the babies are crying, people are pushing each other at the taps outside and some children are already pulling the crusts of porridge off the pots we ate from last night, my firstborn brother and I clean our shoes. Our grandmother makes us sit on our mats with our legs straight out so she can look carefully at our shoes to make sure we have done it properly. No other children in the tent have real school shoes. When we three look at them, it’s as if we are in a real house again, with no war, no away.

— Nadine Gordimer

How did I find out? I was deceiving him.

— Nadine Gordimer

I am an African. I am white. Furthermore, I, in my humble way, and others in their much more brave way, have earned that right.

— Nadine Gordimer

I don't cry. Unfortunately, I seem rather short of tears, so my sorrows have to stay inside me.

— Nadine Gordimer

I'm an atheist. I wouldn't even call myself an agnostic. Furthermore, I am an atheist.

— Nadine Gordimer