We are who we are because somebody loved us. Cornel West More Quotes by Cornel West More Quotes From Cornel West Sometime you just need to be silent, have a drink and crack a smile or somethin', because the human condition, in general, is just overwhelming in so many ways. Cornel West cracks way needs Addiction is the dominant form of a culture that suffers from a superficial spectacle and celebrity-connectivity at its center. It's a form of spiritual emptiness. Cornel West addiction suffering spiritual American mainstream is obsessed with black creative genius - be it music, walk, style - but at the same time puts a low priority on the black social misery which is the very context out of which that creativity flows. Cornel West priorities creativity creative You don't begin by dehumanizing those who are dehumanizing you, because it contributes to the cycle of dehumanization in the world. Cornel West dehumanization cycles world Martin Luther King's legacy is never to be measured by bricks and mortar, but rather by the kind of lives that we live, and the kind of love and service that we render. Cornel West bricks-and-mortar legacy kings I would say you have to fight in the life of the mind as well as fight in the streets, as well as fight in the courts, as well as fight in congress and the White House. Every site is a sight of contestation. Cornel West fighting white sight He[Michael Jackson] had a joy in being alive. There was a joy you felt of him on the stage and making us not just feel good but pushing us against ourselves with the "Man in the Mirror," looking at ourselves critically, "Black or White," what does it mean to get caught in a color as opposed to a rich history and culture? Cornel West mirrors men mean Our politicians have sacrificed their principles on the altar of special interests; our corporate leaders have sacrificed their integrity on the altar of profits; and our media watchdogs have sacrificed the voice of dissent on the altar of audience competition. Cornel West media voice integrity I have tried to be a man of letters in love with ideas in order to be a wiser and more loving person, hoping to leave the world just a little better than I found it. Cornel West wise men ideas Anytime I look at a president, I don't care what color he is. Cornel West color president looks Black people have always been America's wilderness in search of a promised land. Cornel West land inspirational america To live is to wrestle with despair, yet never allow despair to have the last word. Cornel West last-words despair lasts When it comes to our precious poor children of all colors, maybe disproportionally in percentage black and white and red, but all colors, yellow as well as white, we need to push toward integrated schools. Cornel West black-and-white children school I certainly support the right of the gay brothers and sisters to come together. I believe true love can take a number of different forms. If they choose to be married that's fine, but the important thing is I hope they find love Cornel West gay brother believe We're talking about a prison-industrial complex. We're talking about a war on drugs that's generating unprecedented levels of incarcerated folk. We're talking about dilapidated housing. We're talking about joblessness and underemployment. Cornel West drug talking war I always felt called to serve, to empower and ennoble as many people as I could, teaching, truth-telling, exposing lies, bearing witness, and being willing to live and die for something bigger than yourself. Cornel West teaching lying people As long as hope remains and meaning is preserved, the possibility of overcoming oppression stays alive. Cornel West civil-rights overcoming long I'm not romanticizing black people, because we've got gangsters like everybody else. Cornel West black-people black people Every empire suffers from hubris, arrogance and condescension, and therefore a moral blindness. That's true of the American empire, it was true of the British Empireearlier, and it will certainly be true of the Chinese Empire in the future. Cornel West chinese arrogance suffering I would want to conceive of philosophy as grounded in the very long humanist tradition that is the best of the West, which is open to the East and North and South. Cornel West west philosophy long
