Authors: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

100 Inspiring Quotes By Alice Walker, The Author Of The Color Purple

Famous As: The First African-American Woman to Win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
Born On: February 9, 1944
Born In: Eatonton, Georgia, United States
Age: 80 Years

Alice Walker is a poet, novelist, short story writer and social activist from the United States, who rose to prominence in the 20th century and remains one of the foremost intellectuals of the world. She was born in a poor family but her mother made sure that she was educated and Walker had secretly started writing stories from as early an age as eight. After graduating from Sarah Lawrence College, Walker plunged straight into the world of activism by joining voter registration campaigns and other welfare programs. She had been interested in the Civil Rights Movement and the movement had a profound influence on her as an activist. Walker’s writing career is best known for the book ‘The Color Purple’ published in 1982 that made her one of the better known writers in the world. It won her the National Book Award and more importantly, she was also awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. Her other notable works as a writer include ‘The Third Life of Grange Copeland’ and ‘Meridian’, both of which further enhanced her reputation as a writer of rare skill. Walker is a woman who is a great orator and here are some of the more famous quotes from her life as a writer, activist and public intellectual.

Listed In:
No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.

No person is your friend who demands your silence, or denies your right to grow.

Alice Walker
The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.

The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they don't have any.

Alice Walker
I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.

I think it pisses God off if you walk by the color purple in a field somewhere and don't notice it.

Alice Walker
Hard times require furious dancing. Each of us is proof.

Hard times require furious dancing. Each of us is proof.

Alice Walker
The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.

The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans any more than black people were made for white, or women created for men.

Alice Walker
Deliver me from writers who say the way they live doesn't matter. I'm not sure a bad person can write a good book. If art doesn't make us better, then what on earth is it for.

Deliver me from writers who say the way they live doesn't matter. I'm not sure a bad person can write a good book. If art doesn't make us better, then what on earth is it for.

Alice Walker
What the mind doesn't understand, it worships or fears.

What the mind doesn't understand, it worships or fears.

Alice Walker
Be nobody's darling;
 Be an outcast.
Take the contradictions
Of your life
And wrap around
You like a shawl,
To parry stones
To keep you warm.

Be nobody's darling; Be an outcast. Take the contradictions Of your life And wrap around You like a shawl, To parry stones To keep you warm.

Alice Walker
Even as I hold you, I am letting you go.

Even as I hold you, I am letting you go.

Alice Walker
Activism is my rent for living on the planet.

Activism is my rent for living on the planet.

Alice Walker
Everything want to be loved. Us sing and dance and holler, just trying to be loved.

Everything want to be loved. Us sing and dance and holler, just trying to be loved.

Alice Walker
Men make war to get attention. All killing is an expression of self-hate.

Men make war to get attention. All killing is an expression of self-hate.

Alice Walker
Time moves slowly, but passes quickly.

Time moves slowly, but passes quickly.

Alice Walker
I have learned not to worry about love; but to honor its coming with all my heart.

I have learned not to worry about love; but to honor its coming with all my heart.

Alice Walker
Any God I ever found in church, I brought in myself.

Any God I ever found in church, I brought in myself.

Alice Walker
In nature, nothing is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways and they're still beautiful.

In nature, nothing is perfect. Trees can be contorted, bent in weird ways and they're still beautiful.

Alice Walker
Horses make a landscape look beautiful.

Horses make a landscape look beautiful.

Alice Walker
Look closely at the present you are constructing: 
it should look like the future you are dreaming.

Look closely at the present you are constructing: it should look like the future you are dreaming.

Alice Walker
The nature of this flower is to bloom.

The nature of this flower is to bloom.

Alice Walker
I'm mad about the waste that happens when people who love each other can't even bring themselves to talk.

I'm mad about the waste that happens when people who love each other can't even bring themselves to talk.

Alice Walker
In search of my mother's garden, I found my own.

In search of my mother's garden, I found my own.

Alice Walker
We are the ones we have been waiting for

We are the ones we have been waiting for

Alice Walker
Helped are those who are content to be themselves; they will never lack mystery in their lives and the joys of self-discovery will be constant.

Helped are those who are content to be themselves; they will never lack mystery in their lives and the joys of self-discovery will be constant.

Alice Walker
When life descends into the pit
I must become my own candle
Willingly burning my self
To light up the darkness around me.

When life descends into the pit I must become my own candle Willingly burning my self To light up the darkness around me.

Alice Walker
A grown child is a dangerous thing.

A grown child is a dangerous thing.

Alice Walker
Oh, Celie, unbelief is a terrible thing. And so is the hurt we cause others unknowingly.

Oh, Celie, unbelief is a terrible thing. And so is the hurt we cause others unknowingly.

Alice Walker
Never offer your heart
to someone who eats hearts
who finds heartmeat
delicious
but not rare
who sucks the juices
drop by drop
and bloody-chinned
grins
like a God.

Never offer your heart to someone who eats hearts who finds heartmeat delicious but not rare who sucks the juices drop by drop and bloody-chinned grins like a God.

Alice Walker
The more I wonder, the more I love.

The more I wonder, the more I love.

Alice Walker
Nobody is as powerful as we make them out to be.

Nobody is as powerful as we make them out to be.

Alice Walker
She was so quiet. So reflective. And she could erase herself, her spirit, with a swiftness that truly startled, when she knew the people around her could not respect it.

She was so quiet. So reflective. And she could erase herself, her spirit, with a swiftness that truly startled, when she knew the people around her could not respect it.

Alice Walker