Not with nothing but. With nothing.

8 Jul-8 Aug 2015

Overview

[She says] “no I’m not leaving. [...] Tell him I give up the land. Tell him that he can have it, title deed and all.” There is a pause between them. “How humiliating”, he says finally. “Such high hopes, and to end like this”. “Yes, I agree, it is humiliating. But perhaps that is a good point to start from again. Perhaps that is what I must learn to accept. To start at ground level. With nothing. Not with nothing but. With nothing. No cards, no weapons, no property, no rights, no dignity”. “Like a dog”. “Yes, like a dog”. – J. M. Coetzee Disgrace (NY: Penguin 1999) 205.