Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.
TONI MORRISONAll paradises, all utopias are designed by who is not there, by the people who are not allowed in.
More Toni Morrison Quotes
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If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.
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She learned the intricacy of loneliness: the horror of color, the roar of soundlessness and the menace of familiar objects lying still.
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You have to be a little tough, and rely on yourself. And tell people ‘No’.
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The function of freedom is to free someone else.
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A friend gathers all the pieces and gives them back in the right order.
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At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough.
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Black women have always been friends. I mean, if you didn’t have each other you had nothing.
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I think some aspects of writing can be taught. Obviously, you can’t teach vision or talent. But you can help with comfort.
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Love is or it ain’t. Thin love ain’t love at all.
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Liberation means you don’t have to be silenced.
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The peace I am thinking of is the dance of an open mind when it engages another equally open one.
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Being able to laugh got me through.
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I don’t think one parent can raise a child. I don’t think two parents can raise a child. You really need the whole village.
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Anything dead coming back to life hurts.
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I didn’t want to speak for black people. I wanted to speak to and to be among. It’s us.
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Don’t beg anybody for anything, especially love.
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I want to discourage you from choosing anything or making any decision simply because it is safe. Things of value seldom are.
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He can’t value you more than you value yourself.
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Beloved, you are my sister, you are my daughter, you are my face; you are me.
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Lonely was much better than alone.
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You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.
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But to find out the truth about how dreams die, one should never take the word of the dreamer.
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Misery don’t call ahead. That’s why you have to stay awake – otherwise it just walks on in your door.
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You need a whole community to raise a child. I have raised two children, alone.
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There is no such thing as race. None. There is just a human race – scientifically, anthropologically. Racism is a construct, a social construct, it has a social function, racism.
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From my point of view, your life is already a miracle of chance waiting for you to shape its destiny.
TONI MORRISON