More Quotes by Toni Morrison
Books ARE a form of political action. Books are knowledge. Books are reflection. Books change your mind.
I want to discourage you from choosing anything or making any decision simply because it is safe. Things of value seldom are.
A friend gathers all the pieces and gives them back in the right order.
I know the world is bruised and bleeding, and though it is important not to ignore its pain, it is also critical to refuse to succumb to its malevolence. Like failure, chaos contains information that can lead to knowledge - even wisdom. Like art.
There is no such thing as race. None. There is just a human race - scientifically, anthropologically. Racism is a construct, a social construct... it has a social function, racism.
All important things are hard.
Liberation means you don't have to be silenced.
I tell my students, 'When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else. This is not just a grab-bag candy game.
If you want to fly, you have to give up the things that weigh you down.
The function of freedom is to free someone else.