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100 Powerful Toni Morrison Quotes

Famous As: Novelist
Born On: February 18, 1931
Died On: August 5, 2019
Born In: Lorain, Ohio
Died At Age: 88

Toni Morrison is an award-winning American novelist, editor and professor. She was born in a modest family and her interest in writing was cultivated by her parents. She attended the University of Howard to pursue her passion for literature. She started off her career as a professor of English at Howard for the next seven years. During this period she had befriended a group of writers inside the university and started writing her first novel with them. She then moved to New York to work as a senior editor at a renowned publishing house. Her debut novel ‘The Bluest Eye’ brought her modest success but her next book ‘Sula’ was a huge hit. It was well–accepted by the masses and was nominated for the ‘American Book Award’. She followed up with various books to enhance her reputation as a writer. Her books were very expressive in depicting black America. Her significant contributions to the literary world have been honored with various awards including the most renowned ‘Noble Prize’ and ‘Pulitzer Prize’. Go through these quotes and thoughts by the acclaimed writer which tends to hold a very deep meaning. Take a look at the famous collection of quotations and sayings by Toni Morrison that convey a powerful message on race, friendship, labels, love and life.

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If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.

If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.

Toni Morrison
You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.

You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.

Toni Morrison
Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.

Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.

Toni Morrison
Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all.

Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all.

Toni Morrison
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.

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
She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.

She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me in all the right order.

Toni Morrison
Sweet, crazy conversations full of half sentences, daydreams and misunderstandings more thrilling than understanding could ever be.

Sweet, crazy conversations full of half sentences, daydreams and misunderstandings more thrilling than understanding could ever be.

Toni Morrison
And I am all the things I have ever loved: scuppernong wine, cool baptisms in silent water, dream books and number playing.

And I am all the things I have ever loved: scuppernong wine, cool baptisms in silent water, dream books and number playing.

Toni Morrison
Don't ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn't fall in love, I rose in it.

Don't ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn't fall in love, I rose in it.

Toni Morrison
Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.

Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.

Toni Morrison
Like any artist without an art form, she became dangerous.

Like any artist without an art form, she became dangerous.

Toni Morrison
You are your best thing

You are your best thing

Toni Morrison
In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.

In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.

Toni Morrison
Lonely, ain't it?
Yes, but my lonely is mine. Now your lonely is somebody else's. Made by somebody else and handed to you. Ain't that something? A secondhand lonely.

Lonely, ain't it? Yes, but my lonely is mine. Now your lonely is somebody else's. Made by somebody else and handed to you. Ain't that something? A secondhand lonely.

Toni Morrison
What difference do it make if the thing you scared of is real or not?

What difference do it make if the thing you scared of is real or not?

Toni Morrison
Love is never any better than the lover.

Love is never any better than the lover.

Toni Morrison
As you enter positions of trust and power, dream a little before you think.

As you enter positions of trust and power, dream a little before you think.

Toni Morrison
The function of freedom is to free someone else.

The function of freedom is to free someone else.

Toni Morrison
If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.

If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.

Toni Morrison
There is really nothing more to say-except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how.

There is really nothing more to say-except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how.

Toni Morrison
A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves - a special kind of double.

A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves - a special kind of double.

Toni Morrison
It is sheer good fortune to miss somebody long before they leave you.

It is sheer good fortune to miss somebody long before they leave you.

Toni Morrison
He wants to put his story next to hers.

He wants to put his story next to hers.

Toni Morrison
It was a fine cry - loud and long - but it had no bottom and it had no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.

It was a fine cry - loud and long - but it had no bottom and it had no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.

Toni Morrison
Anything dead coming back to life hurts.

Anything dead coming back to life hurts.

Toni Morrison
Lonely was much better than alone.

Lonely was much better than alone.

Toni Morrison
Me and you, we got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow.

Me and you, we got more yesterday than anybody. We need some kind of tomorrow.

Toni Morrison
All paradises, all utopias are designed by who is not there, by the people who are not allowed in.

[Conversation with Elizabeth Farnsworth, PBS NewsHour, March 9, 1998]

All paradises, all utopias are designed by who is not there, by the people who are not allowed in. [Conversation with Elizabeth Farnsworth, PBS NewsHour, March 9, 1998]

Toni Morrison
If they put an iron circle around your neck I will bite it away

If they put an iron circle around your neck I will bite it away

Toni Morrison
Pain. I seem to have an affection, a kind of sweettooth for it. Bolts of lightning, little rivulets of thunder. 
And I the eye of the storm.

Pain. I seem to have an affection, a kind of sweettooth for it. Bolts of lightning, little rivulets of thunder. And I the eye of the storm.

Toni Morrison
A dream is just a nightmare with lipstick.

A dream is just a nightmare with lipstick.

Toni Morrison
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.

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
We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.

We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.

Toni Morrison
Anger is better. There is a sense of being in anger. A reality and presence. An awareness of worth. It is a lovely surging.

Anger is better. There is a sense of being in anger. A reality and presence. An awareness of worth. It is a lovely surging.

Toni Morrison
All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.

All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.

Toni Morrison
I dream a dream that dreams back at me

I dream a dream that dreams back at me

Toni Morrison
Not knowing it was hard; knowing it was harder

Not knowing it was hard; knowing it was harder

Toni Morrison
To get to a place where you could love anything you chose--not to need permission for desire--well now _that_ was freedom.

To get to a place where you could love anything you chose--not to need permission for desire--well now _that_ was freedom.

Toni Morrison
Something that is loved is never lost.

Something that is loved is never lost.

Toni Morrison
They encouraged you to put some of your weight in their hands and soon as you felt how light and lovely it was, they studied your scars and tribulations...

They encouraged you to put some of your weight in their hands and soon as you felt how light and lovely it was, they studied your scars and tribulations...

Toni Morrison
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.

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
What I think the political correctness debate is really about is the power to be able to define. The definers want the power to name. And the defined are now taking that power away from them.

What I think the political correctness debate is really about is the power to be able to define. The definers want the power to name. And the defined are now taking that power away from them.

Toni Morrison
Writing is really a way of thinking--not just feeling but thinking about things that are disparate, unresolved, mysterious, problematic or just sweet.

Writing is really a way of thinking--not just feeling but thinking about things that are disparate, unresolved, mysterious, problematic or just sweet.

Toni Morrison
What's the world for you if you can't make it up the way you want it?

What's the world for you if you can't make it up the way you want it?

Toni Morrison
The hopelessness that comes from knowing too little and feeling too much (so brittle, so dry he is in danger of the reverse: feeling nothing and knowing everything)

The hopelessness that comes from knowing too little and feeling too much (so brittle, so dry he is in danger of the reverse: feeling nothing and knowing everything)

Toni Morrison
Let me tell you something. A man ain’t a goddamn ax. Chopping, hacking, busting every goddamn minute of the day. Things get to him. Things he can’t chop down because they’re inside.

Let me tell you something. A man ain’t a goddamn ax. Chopping, hacking, busting every goddamn minute of the day. Things get to him. Things he can’t chop down because they’re inside.

Toni Morrison
Beauty was not simply something to behold; it was something one could do.

Beauty was not simply something to behold; it was something one could do.

Toni Morrison
She learned the intricacy of loneliness: the horror of color, the roar of soundlessness and the menace of familiar objects lying still.

She learned the intricacy of loneliness: the horror of color, the roar of soundlessness and the menace of familiar objects lying still.

Toni Morrison
To be given dominion over another is a hard thing; to wrest dominion over another is a wrong thing; to give dominion of yourself to another is a wicked thing.

To be given dominion over another is a hard thing; to wrest dominion over another is a wrong thing; to give dominion of yourself to another is a wicked thing.

Toni Morrison
Black literature is taught as sociology, as tolerance, not as a serious, rigorous art form.

Black literature is taught as sociology, as tolerance, not as a serious, rigorous art form.

Toni Morrison
I don't think a female running a house is a problem, a broken family. It's perceived as one because of the notion that a head is a man.

I don't think a female running a house is a problem, a broken family. It's perceived as one because of the notion that a head is a man.

Toni Morrison
The presence of evil was something to be first recognized, then dealt with, survived, outwitted, triumphed over.

The presence of evil was something to be first recognized, then dealt with, survived, outwitted, triumphed over.

Toni Morrison
Today is always here,' said Sethe. 'Tomorrow, never.

Today is always here,' said Sethe. 'Tomorrow, never.

Toni Morrison
But to find out the truth about how dreams die, one should never take the word of the dreamer.

But to find out the truth about how dreams die, one should never take the word of the dreamer.

Toni Morrison
When you gone to get married? You need to have some babies. It’ll settle you.'
'I don’t want to make somebody else. I want to make myself.

When you gone to get married? You need to have some babies. It’ll settle you.' 'I don’t want to make somebody else. I want to make myself.

Toni Morrison
Was it hard? I hope she didn't die hard.'

Sethe shook her head. 'Soft as cream. Being alive was the hard part.

Was it hard? I hope she didn't die hard.' Sethe shook her head. 'Soft as cream. Being alive was the hard part.

Toni Morrison
But the picking out, the choosing. Don't ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn't fall in love, I rose in it. I saw you and made up my mind. My mind.

But the picking out, the choosing. Don't ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn't fall in love, I rose in it. I saw you and made up my mind. My mind.

Toni Morrison
Sunk in the grass of an empty lot on a spring Saturday, I split the stems of milkweed and thought about ants and peach pits and death and where the world went when I closed my eyes.

Sunk in the grass of an empty lot on a spring Saturday, I split the stems of milkweed and thought about ants and peach pits and death and where the world went when I closed my eyes.

Toni Morrison
There in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had no meaning.

There in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had no meaning.

Toni Morrison
I don't think anybody cares about unwed mothers unless they're black or poor. The question is not morality, the question is money. That's what we're upset about.

I don't think anybody cares about unwed mothers unless they're black or poor. The question is not morality, the question is money. That's what we're upset about.

Toni Morrison
It's a bad word, 'belong.' Especially when you put it with somebody you love ... You can't own a human being.

It's a bad word, 'belong.' Especially when you put it with somebody you love ... You can't own a human being.

Toni Morrison
I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it.

I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it.

Toni Morrison
I always looked upon the acts of racist exclusion, or insult, as pitiable, for the other person. I never absorbed that. I always thought that there was something deficient about such people.

I always looked upon the acts of racist exclusion, or insult, as pitiable, for the other person. I never absorbed that. I always thought that there was something deficient about such people.

Toni Morrison
He licked his lips. ‘Well, if you want my opinion-‘
‘I don’t, ‘ She said. ‘I have my own.

He licked his lips. ‘Well, if you want my opinion-‘ ‘I don’t, ‘ She said. ‘I have my own.

Toni Morrison
I wish I’d a knowed more people. I would of loved ‘em all. If I’d a knowed more, I would a loved more

I wish I’d a knowed more people. I would of loved ‘em all. If I’d a knowed more, I would a loved more

Toni Morrison
It never looked as terrible as it was and it made her wonder if hell was a pretty place too. Fire and brimstone all right, but hidden in lacy groves.

It never looked as terrible as it was and it made her wonder if hell was a pretty place too. Fire and brimstone all right, but hidden in lacy groves.

Toni Morrison
No matter what all your teeth and wet fingers anticipated, there was no accounting for the way that simple joy could shake you.

No matter what all your teeth and wet fingers anticipated, there was no accounting for the way that simple joy could shake you.

Toni Morrison
She is a friend of my 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.

She is a friend of my 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
If you surrender to the wind you can ride it.

If you surrender to the wind you can ride it.

Toni Morrison
You looking good.

You looking good." "Devil's confusion. He lets me look good long as I feel bad.

Toni Morrison
Everything depends on knowing how much,” she said, and “Good is knowing when to stop.

Everything depends on knowing how much,” she said, and “Good is knowing when to stop.

Toni Morrison
We mistook violence for passion, indolence for leisure, and thought recklessness was freedom.

We mistook violence for passion, indolence for leisure, and thought recklessness was freedom.

Toni Morrison
You looked at me then like you knew me, and I thought it really was Eden, and I couldn't take your eyes in because I was loving the hoof marks on your cheeks.

You looked at me then like you knew me, and I thought it really was Eden, and I couldn't take your eyes in because I was loving the hoof marks on your cheeks.

Toni Morrison
He leans over and takes her hand. With the other he touches her face. ‘You your best thing, Sethe. You are.’ His holding fingers are holding hers.

‘Me? Me?

He leans over and takes her hand. With the other he touches her face. ‘You your best thing, Sethe. You are.’ His holding fingers are holding hers. ‘Me? Me?

Toni Morrison
In Ohio seasons are theatrical. Each one enters like a prima donna, convinced its performance is the reason the world has people in it.

In Ohio seasons are theatrical. Each one enters like a prima donna, convinced its performance is the reason the world has people in it.

Toni Morrison
...the change was adjustment without improvement.

...the change was adjustment without improvement.

Toni Morrison
I'm not entangled in shaping my work according to other people's views of how I should have done it.

I'm not entangled in shaping my work according to other people's views of how I should have done it.

Toni Morrison
For me, Art is the restoration of order. It may discuss all sort of terrible things, but there must be satisfaction at the end. A little bit of hunger, but also satisfaction.

For me, Art is the restoration of order. It may discuss all sort of terrible things, but there must be satisfaction at the end. A little bit of hunger, but also satisfaction.

Toni Morrison
Love is divine only and difficult always.

Love is divine only and difficult always.

Toni Morrison
You your best thing, Sethe. You are.

You your best thing, Sethe. You are.

Toni Morrison
I had only one desire: to dismember it. To see of what it was made, to discover the dearness, to find the beauty, the desirability that had escaped me, but apparently only me.

I had only one desire: to dismember it. To see of what it was made, to discover the dearness, to find the beauty, the desirability that had escaped me, but apparently only me.

Toni Morrison
You don't have to love me but you damn well have to respect me.

You don't have to love me but you damn well have to respect me.

Toni Morrison
You been gone too long, Sula.

Not too long, but maybe too far.

You been gone too long, Sula. Not too long, but maybe too far.

Toni Morrison
You got two feet, Sethe, not four.

You got two feet, Sethe, not four." he said, and right then a forest sprang up between them; tactless and quiet.

Toni Morrison
Love is never any better than the lover. Wicked people love wickedly, violent people love violently, weak people love weakly, stupid people love stupidly, but the love a free man is never safe.

Love is never any better than the lover. Wicked people love wickedly, violent people love violently, weak people love weakly, stupid people love stupidly, but the love a free man is never safe.

Toni Morrison
Say make me, remake me. You are free to do it and I am free to let you because look, look. Look where your hands are. Now.

Say make me, remake me. You are free to do it and I am free to let you because look, look. Look where your hands are. Now.

Toni Morrison
No matter how hard we try to ignore it, the mind always knows truth and wants clarity.

No matter how hard we try to ignore it, the mind always knows truth and wants clarity.

Toni Morrison
The loss pressed down on her chest and came up into her throat. it was a fine cry -- loud and long -- but it had no bottom and no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.

The loss pressed down on her chest and came up into her throat. it was a fine cry -- loud and long -- but it had no bottom and no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.

Toni Morrison
Certain seeds it will not nurture, certain fruit it will not bear and when the land kills of its own volition, we acquiesce and say the victim had no right to live

Certain seeds it will not nurture, certain fruit it will not bear and when the land kills of its own volition, we acquiesce and say the victim had no right to live

Toni Morrison
Perhaps that's what all human relationships boil down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?

Perhaps that's what all human relationships boil down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?

Toni Morrison
I get angry about things, then go on and work.

I get angry about things, then go on and work.

Toni Morrison
How exquisitely human was the wish for permanent happiness, and how thin human imagination became trying to achieve it.

How exquisitely human was the wish for permanent happiness, and how thin human imagination became trying to achieve it.

Toni Morrison
For now he knew what Shalimar knew: If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.

For now he knew what Shalimar knew: If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.

Toni Morrison
How come it can't fly no better than a chicken?

How come it can't fly no better than a chicken?" "Too much tail. All that jewelry weighs it down. Like vanity. Wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.

Toni Morrison
I write the way women have babies. You don't know it's going to be like that. If you did, there's no way you would go through with it.

I write the way women have babies. You don't know it's going to be like that. If you did, there's no way you would go through with it.

Toni Morrison
Now he knew why he loved her so. Without ever leaving the ground, she could fly. 'There must be another one like you,' he whispered to her. 'There's got to be at least one more woman like you.

Now he knew why he loved her so. Without ever leaving the ground, she could fly. 'There must be another one like you,' he whispered to her. 'There's got to be at least one more woman like you.

Toni Morrison
Sifting daylight dissolves the memory, turns it into dust motes floating in light.

Sifting daylight dissolves the memory, turns it into dust motes floating in light.

Toni Morrison
The real hell of Hell is that it is forever.' Sula said that. She said doing anything forever and ever was hell.

The real hell of Hell is that it is forever.' Sula said that. She said doing anything forever and ever was hell.

Toni Morrison
When am I happy and when am I sad and what is the difference? What do I need to know to stay alive? What is true in the world?

When am I happy and when am I sad and what is the difference? What do I need to know to stay alive? What is true in the world?

Toni Morrison
O Lord, Sula,” she cried, “girl, girl, girlgirlgirl.”

It was a fine cry—loud and long—but it had no bottom and it had no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.

O Lord, Sula,” she cried, “girl, girl, girlgirlgirl.” It was a fine cry—loud and long—but it had no bottom and it had no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.

Toni Morrison