In a world often fraught with noise, we sometimes stumble upon voices that resonate with unique cadence and profound depth. One such voice belonged to Toni Morrison, an iconic figure whose words painted vivid portraits of humanity, life, and the struggles within it. Welcome to our carefully curated selection of 50 insightful Toni Morrison quotes, designed to inspire and provoke thought, just like Morrison herself. These gems of wisdom offer a peek into her brilliant mind, illuminating the power of language and the indomitable spirit that has made her an enduring source of inspiration for many.
A gifted storyteller, Toni Morrison didn't just pen down words; she weaved narratives that challenged norms, questioned stereotypes, and mirrored the complexities of human existence. One of the most compelling instances from her life was when she won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. She stood as the first African-American woman to claim this honor, underlining the importance of diverse voices in literature. This accomplishment is a testament to her exceptional ability to portray the nuances of the human experience. Whether you're familiar with her works or not, these insightful Toni Morrison quotes offer a deep dive into the mind of a literary genius who etched her presence in the annals of world literature. So let's step into the labyrinth of her thoughts and let her words guide us, surprise us, and stir us to our very core.
The Power of Words
1. “If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.”
2. “Words are to be taken seriously. I try to take seriously acts of language. Words set things in motion.”
3. “We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”
4. “Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.
5. “Language alone protects us from the scariness of things with no names.”
6. “A writer's life and work are not a gift to mankind; they are its necessity.”
7. “You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”
8. “If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.”
9. “The function of freedom is to free someone else.”
10. “Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence.”
Related Article: “50 Profound Emily Dickinson Quotes”
On Love and Humanity
- “Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all.”
- “Could you really love somebody who was absolutely nobody without you? You really want somebody like that?”
- “Lonely was much better than alone.”
- “At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough.”
- “She is a friend of my mind…The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.”
- “We mistook violence for passion, indolence for leisure, and thought recklessness was freedom.”
- “In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.”
- “I'm not entangled in shaping my work according to other people's views of how I should have done it.”
- “It is sheer good fortune to miss somebody long before they leave you.”
- “I tell my students, ‘When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else.'”
Unraveling Self-Identity
- “Your life is already artful—waiting, just waiting, for you to make it art.”
- “Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.”
- “You are your best thing.”
- “I don’t think a female running a house is a problem, a broken family. It’s perceived as one because of the notion that a head is a man.”
- “Being a black woman writer is not a shallow place but a rich place to write from. It doesn’t limit my imagination; it expands it.”
- “Me and you, we got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow.”
- “The very serious function of racism…is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining, over and over again, your reason for being.”
- “I'm always annoyed about why black people have to bear the brunt of everybody else's contempt. If we are not totally understanding and smiling, suddenly we're demons.”
- “If you can only be tall because somebody is on their knees, then you have a serious problem.”
- “You don't have to love me but you damn well have to respect me.”
Related Article: “50 Intellectual Jorge Luis Borges Quotes”
On Writing and Creativity
- “Make a difference about something other than yourselves.”
- “I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it.”
- “Books are a form of political action. Books are knowledge. Books are reflection. Books change your mind.”
- “Narrative is radical, creating us at the very moment it is being created.”
- “I get angry about things, then go on and work.”
- “I don't think anybody cares about unwed mothers unless they're black or poor. The question is not morality, the question is money. That's what we're upset about.”
- “The best art is political and you ought to be able to make it unquestionably political and irrevocably beautiful at the same time.”
- “As you enter positions of trust and power, dream a little before you think.”
- “If there is a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, you must be the one to write it.”
- “The function of art is to do more than tell it like it is—it’s to imagine what is possible.”
The Struggles and Triumphs of Life
- “Anger … it's a paralyzing emotion … you can't get anything done. People sort of think it's an interesting, passionate, and igniting feeling—I don't think it’s any of that—it's helpless… it's absence of control—and I need all of my skills, all of the control, all of my powers … and anger doesn't provide any of that—I have no use for it whatsoever.”
- “Something that is loved is never lost.”
- “If you're going to hold someone down you're going to have to hold on by the other end of the chain. You are confined by your own repression.”
- “Beauty was not simply something to behold; it was something one could do.”
- “There is really nothing more to say—except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how.”
- “It’s so hard for anyone to show us how we look, and so hard for us to show anyone how we feel.”
- “He licked his lips. ‘Well, if you want my opinion-‘ ‘I don't,' She said. ‘I have my own.”
- “He can't value you more than you value yourself.”
- “Love is never any better than the lover.”
- “You are not the work you do; you are the person you are.”
Related Article: “50 Naturalistic Henry David Thoreau Quotes”
