A list of Toni Morrison quotes to inspire the better you
Something that is loved is never lost.
On August 5, 2019, the American writer, novelist, and the beloved inspiration Toni Morrison passed away at the age of 88.
But just as she said, “We die, that may be the meaning of life.” She has and will continue to inspire us with words of wisdom.
Born on February 18, 1931, in Lorain, Ohio, Toni Morrison is the first African-American Nobel Prize winner in literature. She was also one of the most beloved and celebrated authors of all time.
Before she was an honored novelist, she was also a teacher and a single mother of 2. She saw the world and American society with her unique point of view. She discovered problems and was never shy away from them.
In 1970, she published her first novel, The Bluest Eye. The book tells the story of a young African-American girl who pursuits “whiteness” as beauty. Because of the daring discussion on racism and child molestation, the novel was almost banned from the general public.
But the controversy didn’t stop her from speaking up in the literary world. She rocked our minds with best-selling novels Sula, the Song of Solomon and Beloved. The characters she created soared, and so did her career. Until today, her work is still impactful because it draws attention to the life and African-American female and all women as a whole. It tells the world that their lives are important, they are enough and worthy of love.
To honor her life contribution, here are 23 of the best and most inspirational Toni Morrison quotes on life, love, and more.
Toni Morrison Quotes On Life, Love and Strength
If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.
You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.
He can’t value you more than you value yourself.
Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.
I didn’t fall in love, I rose in it.
You are your best thing.
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The function of freedom is to free someone else.
It is sheer good fortune to miss somebody long before they leave you.
Something that is loved is never lost.
All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.
Beauty was not simply something to behold; it was something one could do.
You don’t have to love me, but you damn well have to respect me.
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I’m not entangled in shaping my work according to other people’s views of how I should have done it.
If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.
Love is never any better than the lover.
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We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.
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.
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.
I don’t think many people appreciate silence or realize that it is as close to music as you can get.
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We never shape the world . . . The world shapes us.
When fear rules, obedience is the only survival choice.
I get angry about things, then go on and work.
Correct what you can; learn from what you can’t.
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