Chloe Anthony Wofford Morrison, aka Toni Morrison, was an American novelist, essayist, and book editor. She made many accomplishments and became known as one of the best authors. She also won the National Book Critics Circle Award. May these Toni Morrison quotes on empowerment and success give you insights that will help you achieve your goals in life.
1. “If you wanna fly, you got to give up the things that weighs you down.” – Toni Morrison
2. “If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” – Toni Morrison
3. “It is easily the most empty cliché, the most useless word, and at the same time, the most powerful human emotion because hatred is involved in it, too.” – Toni Morrison
4. “It is sheer good fortune to miss somebody long before they leave you.” – Toni Morrison
5. “There is really nothing more to say except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how.” – Toni Morrison
6. “I’m a believer in the power of knowledge and the ferocity of beauty, so from my point of view, your life is already artful. Waiting, just waiting, for you to make it art.” – Toni Morrison
7. “As you enter positions of trust and power, dream a little before you think.” – Toni Morrison
8. “If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.” – Toni Morrison
9. “What difference do it make if the thing you scared of is real or not?” – Toni Morrison
-min.jpg "Famous quotes and sayings by Toni Morrison")
10. “If you can’t imagine it, you can’t have it.” – Toni Morrison
11. “My world did not shrink because I was a Black female writer. It just got bigger.” – Toni Morrison
12. “Don't ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn't fall in love, I rose in it.” – Toni Morrison
13. “We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” – Toni Morrison
14. “Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.” – Toni Morrison
-min.jpg "Famous quotes and sayings by Toni Morrison")
15. “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
16. “Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.” – Toni Morrison
17. “Sweet, crazy conversations full of half sentences, daydreams and misunderstandings more thrilling than understanding could ever be.” – Toni Morrison
18. “The function of freedom is to free someone else.” – Toni Morrison
19. “We mistook violence for passion, indolence for leisure, and thought recklessness was freedom.” – Toni Morrison
-min.jpg "Famous quotes and sayings by Toni Morrison")
20. “Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all.” – Toni Morrison
21. “To get to a place where you could love anything you chose, not need permission for desire, well, now that was freedom.” – Toni Morrison
22. “She learned the intricacy of loneliness: the horror of color, the roar of soundlessness and the menace of familiar objects lying still.” – Toni Morrison
23. “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
24. “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
-min.jpg "Famous quotes and sayings by Toni Morrison")
25. “The presence of evil was something to be first recognized, then dealt with, survived, outwitted, triumphed over. ” – Toni Morrison
26. “You can do some rather extraordinary things if that's what you really believe.” – Toni Morrison
27. “What's the world for you if you can't make it up the way you want it?” – Toni Morrison
28. “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
29. “Not knowing it was hard; knowing it was harder.” – Toni Morrison
30. “But to find out the truth about how dreams die, one should never take the word of the dreamer.” – Toni Morrison
More Quotes from Toni Morrison
31. “Perhaps that's what all human relationships boil down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?” – Toni Morrison
32. “Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge.” – Toni Morrison
33. “You don't have to love me but you damn well have to respect me.” – Toni Morrison
34. “It's a bad word, Belong. Especially when you put it with somebody you love. You can't own a human being.” – Toni Morrison
35. “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
36. “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
37. “No matter how hard we try to ignore it, the mind always knows truth and wants clarity.” – Toni Morrison
38. “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
39. “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
40. “How exquisitely human was the wish for permanent happiness, and how thin human imagination became trying to achieve it.” – Toni Morrison
41. “Language alone protects us from the scariness of things with no names. Language alone is meditation.” – Toni Morrison
42. “What you do to children matters. And they might never forget.” – Toni Morrison
43. “I'm not entangled in shaping my work according to other people's views of how I should have done it.” – Toni Morrison
44. “Sifting daylight dissolves the memory and turns it into dust motes floating in the light.” – Toni Morrison
45. “Being good to somebody is just like being mean to somebody. Risky. You don't get nothing for it.” – Toni Morrison
46. “I want to feel what I feel. What's mine. Even if it's not happiness, whatever that means. Because you're all you've got.” – Toni Morrison
47. “If happiness is anticipation with certainty, we were happy.” – Toni Morrison
48. “I don’t want to make somebody else. I want to make myself.” – Toni Morrison
49. “When there is pain, there are no words. All pain is the same.” – Toni Morrison
50. “All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.” – Toni Morrison
51. “Make a difference about something other than yourselves.” – Toni Morrison
52. “You are your best thing.” – Toni Morrison
53. “Somebody has to take responsibility for being a leader.” – Toni Morrison
54. “Something that is loved is never lost.” – Toni Morrison
55. “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” – Toni Morrison
56. “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
57. “Anything dead coming back to life hurts.” – Toni Morrison
58. “I get angry about things, then go on and work.” – Toni Morrison
59. “I like marriage. The idea.” – Toni Morrison
60. “Don’t let anybody, anybody convince you this is the way the world is and therefore must be. It must be the way it ought to be.” – Toni Morrison
Share these Quotes by Toni Morrison with your friends, family, and loved ones to inspire them as well.
2. “If there's a book that you want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then you must write it.” – Toni Morrison
3. “It is easily the most empty cliché, the most useless word, and at the same time, the most powerful human emotion because hatred is involved in it, too.” – Toni Morrison
4. “It is sheer good fortune to miss somebody long before they leave you.” – Toni Morrison
5. “There is really nothing more to say except why. But since why is difficult to handle, one must take refuge in how.” – Toni Morrison
6. “I’m a believer in the power of knowledge and the ferocity of beauty, so from my point of view, your life is already artful. Waiting, just waiting, for you to make it art.” – Toni Morrison
7. “As you enter positions of trust and power, dream a little before you think.” – Toni Morrison
8. “If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.” – Toni Morrison
9. “What difference do it make if the thing you scared of is real or not?” – Toni Morrison
11. “My world did not shrink because I was a Black female writer. It just got bigger.” – Toni Morrison
12. “Don't ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn't fall in love, I rose in it.” – Toni Morrison
13. “We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” – Toni Morrison
14. “Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.” – Toni Morrison
16. “Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.” – Toni Morrison
17. “Sweet, crazy conversations full of half sentences, daydreams and misunderstandings more thrilling than understanding could ever be.” – Toni Morrison
18. “The function of freedom is to free someone else.” – Toni Morrison
19. “We mistook violence for passion, indolence for leisure, and thought recklessness was freedom.” – Toni Morrison
21. “To get to a place where you could love anything you chose, not need permission for desire, well, now that was freedom.” – Toni Morrison
22. “She learned the intricacy of loneliness: the horror of color, the roar of soundlessness and the menace of familiar objects lying still.” – Toni Morrison
23. “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
24. “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
26. “You can do some rather extraordinary things if that's what you really believe.” – Toni Morrison
27. “What's the world for you if you can't make it up the way you want it?” – Toni Morrison
28. “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
29. “Not knowing it was hard; knowing it was harder.” – Toni Morrison
30. “But to find out the truth about how dreams die, one should never take the word of the dreamer.” – Toni Morrison
More Quotes from Toni Morrison
31. “Perhaps that's what all human relationships boil down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?” – Toni Morrison
32. “Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge.” – Toni Morrison
33. “You don't have to love me but you damn well have to respect me.” – Toni Morrison
34. “It's a bad word, Belong. Especially when you put it with somebody you love. You can't own a human being.” – Toni Morrison
35. “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
36. “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
37. “No matter how hard we try to ignore it, the mind always knows truth and wants clarity.” – Toni Morrison
38. “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
39. “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
40. “How exquisitely human was the wish for permanent happiness, and how thin human imagination became trying to achieve it.” – Toni Morrison
41. “Language alone protects us from the scariness of things with no names. Language alone is meditation.” – Toni Morrison
42. “What you do to children matters. And they might never forget.” – Toni Morrison
43. “I'm not entangled in shaping my work according to other people's views of how I should have done it.” – Toni Morrison
44. “Sifting daylight dissolves the memory and turns it into dust motes floating in the light.” – Toni Morrison
45. “Being good to somebody is just like being mean to somebody. Risky. You don't get nothing for it.” – Toni Morrison
46. “I want to feel what I feel. What's mine. Even if it's not happiness, whatever that means. Because you're all you've got.” – Toni Morrison
47. “If happiness is anticipation with certainty, we were happy.” – Toni Morrison
48. “I don’t want to make somebody else. I want to make myself.” – Toni Morrison
49. “When there is pain, there are no words. All pain is the same.” – Toni Morrison
50. “All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.” – Toni Morrison
51. “Make a difference about something other than yourselves.” – Toni Morrison
52. “You are your best thing.” – Toni Morrison
53. “Somebody has to take responsibility for being a leader.” – Toni Morrison
54. “Something that is loved is never lost.” – Toni Morrison
55. “If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” – Toni Morrison
56. “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
57. “Anything dead coming back to life hurts.” – Toni Morrison
58. “I get angry about things, then go on and work.” – Toni Morrison
59. “I like marriage. The idea.” – Toni Morrison
60. “Don’t let anybody, anybody convince you this is the way the world is and therefore must be. It must be the way it ought to be.” – Toni Morrison
Share these Quotes by Toni Morrison with your friends, family, and loved ones to inspire them as well.