For me the history of the place of black people in this country is so varied, complex and beautiful. And impactful.
TONI MORRISONYou don’t have to love me but you damn well have to respect me.
More Toni Morrison Quotes
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You free. Nothing and nobody is obliged to save you but you.
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It was a fine cry – loud and long – but it had no bottom and it had no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.
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Books are a form of political action. Books are knowledge. Books are reflection. Books change your mind.
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It is sheer good fortune to miss somebody long before they leave you.
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If you can only be tall because someone else is on their knees, then you have a serious problem. And white people have a very, very serious problem.
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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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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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All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.
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In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent. This is precisely the time when artists go to work.
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You don’t have to love me but you damn well have to respect me.
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From my point of view, your life is already a miracle of chance waiting for you to shape its destiny.
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Love is never any better than the lover.
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A dream is just a nightmare with lipstick.
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Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.
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Racism will disappear when it’s no longer profitable, and no longer psychologically useful. And when that happens, it’ll be gone. But at the moment, people make a lot of money off of it, pro and con.
TONI MORRISON






