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. Toni Morrison More Quotes by Toni Morrison More Quotes From Toni Morrison Laughter is more serious than tears. Toni Morrison laughterserioustears The theme you choose may change or simply elude you, but being your own story means you can always choose the tone. It also means that you can invent the language to say who are you and what you mean. Toni Morrison elude-youinspirationalmean 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. Toni Morrison smileannoyedpeople I know what every colored woman in this country is doing... Dying. Just like me. But the difference is they dying like a stump. Me, I’m going down like one of those redwoods. I sure did live in this world. Toni Morrison womendifferencescountry I always looked upon the acts of racist exclusion, or insult, as pitiable, from the other person. I never absorbed that. I always thought that there was something deficient about such people. Toni Morrison exclusionracistpeople The presence of evil was something to be first recognized, then dealt with, survived, outwitted, triumphed over. Toni Morrison survivedevilfirsts Something that is loved is never lost. Toni Morrison lost I type in one place, but I write all over the house. Toni Morrison typehousewriting She learned the intricacy of loneliness: the horror of color, the roar of soundlessness and the menace of familiar objects lying still. Toni Morrison colorlonelinesslying Let your face speak what's in your heart. When my kids walk in the room my face says I'm glad to see them. Toni Morrison heartkidsrooms Her mind traveled crooked streets and aimless goat paths, arriving sometimes at profundity, other times at the revelations of a three-year-old. Throughout this fresh, if common, pursuit of knowledge, one conviction crowned her efforts: ...she knew there was nothing to fear. Toni Morrison effortmindyears I don't wait to be struck by lightning and I don't need certain slants of light in order to be able to write. Toni Morrison lightwritingorder But to find out the truth about how dreams die, one should never take the word of the dreamer. Toni Morrison dreamershoulddream The pieces I am, she gather them and gave them back to me in all the right order. Toni Morrison real-friendsbeautifulfriendship You need intelligence, and you need to look. You need a gaze, a wide gaze, penetrating and roving - thats what's useful for art. Toni Morrison looksartneeds But her brain was not interested in the future. Loaded with the past and hungry for more, it left her no room to imagine, let alone plan for, the next day. Toni Morrison next-daybrainpast Nothing could be taken for granted. Women who loved you tried to cut your throat, while women who didn't even know your name scrubbed your back. Witches could sound like Katharine Hepburn and your best friend could try to strangle you. Smack in the middle of an orchid there might be a blob of jello and inside a Mickey Mouse doll, a fixed and radiant star. Toni Morrison cuttingstarstaken I tell my students one of the most important things they need to know is when they are at their best, creatively. They need to ask themselves, What does the ideal room look like? Is there music? Is there silence? Is there chaos outside or is there serenity outside? What do I need in order to release my imagination? Toni Morrison silenceimaginationorder Anything dead coming back to life hurts. Toni Morrison belovedcoming-backhurt ...when the little boy discovered, at four, the same thing Mr. Smith had learned earlier -- that only birds and planes could fly -- he lost all interest in himself. Toni Morrison fourbirdboys
