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. Toni Morrison More Quotes by Toni Morrison More Quotes From Toni Morrison If you want to fly, you have to give up the things that weigh you down. Toni Morrison getting-things-done giving-up want There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear. We speak, we write, we do language. That is how civilizations heal. Toni Morrison self writing civilization It's important, therefore, to know who the real enemy is, and to know the function, the very serious function of racism, which is distraction. It keeps you from doing your work. It keeps you explaining over and over again, your reason for being. Somebody says you have no language and so you spend 20 years proving that you do. Somebody says your head isn't shaped properly so you have scientists working on the fact that it is. Someone says you have no art so you dredge that up. Somebody says you have no kingdoms and so you dredge that up. None of that is necessary. There will always be one more thing. Toni Morrison racism years art If there's a book you really want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it. Toni Morrison attitude happiness inspirational 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. Toni Morrison racism race social I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge - even wisdom. Like art. Toni Morrison pain important art Don’t beg anybody for anything, especially love. Toni Morrison humiliation self-respect love The function of freedom is to free someone else. Toni Morrison revolutionary responsibility love Books ARE a form of political action. Books are knowledge. Books are reflection. Books change your mind. Toni Morrison political reflection book Freedom is choosing your responsibility. It's not having no responsibilitie s; it's choosing the ones you want. Toni Morrison responsibility want 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 racism gone people Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge. Toni Morrison black limits doe Please don't settle for happiness. It's not good enough. Of course you deserve it, but if that's all you have in mind - happiness - I want to suggest to you that personal success devoid of meaningfulness, free of a steady commitment to social justice - that's more than a barren life. It's a trivial one. Toni Morrison not-good-enough justice commitment In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent. Toni Morrison dread silent artist 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. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game. Toni Morrison freedom real jobs The peace I am thinking of is the dance of an open mind when it engages another equally open one. Toni Morrison tolerance diversity thinking Your life is already artful-waiting, just waiting, for you to make it art. Toni Morrison waiting-for-you waiting art She is a friend of mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order. It's good, you know, when you got a woman who is a friend of your mind. Toni Morrison real-friends friendship men Don't ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn't fall in love, I rose in it. Toni Morrison love fall thinking At some point in life the world's beauty becomes enough. You don't need to photograph, paint or even remember it. It is enough. Toni Morrison thank-you beauty life
