By and large, the critics and readers gave me an affirmed sense of my identity as a writer. You might know this within yourself, but to have it affirmed by others is of utmost importance. Writing is, after all, a…

Quote by Ralph Ellison

Topics: Ralph Ellison Quotes

Had the price of looking been blindness, I would have looked.

Had the price of looking been blindness, I would have looked.

I am an invisible man. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone,...

I am an invisible man. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone,...

Good fiction is made of that which is real, and reality is difficult to come...

Good fiction is made of that which is real, and reality is difficult to come...

There must be possible a fiction which, leaving sociology and case histories to the scientists,...

There must be possible a fiction which, leaving sociology and case histories to the scientists,...

There are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers.

There are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers.

Education is all a matter of building bridges.

Education is all a matter of building bridges.

The understanding of art depends finally upon one's willingness to extend one's humanity and one's...

The understanding of art depends finally upon one's willingness to extend one's humanity and one's...

When I discover who I am, I'll be free.

When I discover who I am, I'll be free.

The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past...

The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past...

I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed...

I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed...

The end is in the beginning and lies far ahead.

The end is in the beginning and lies far ahead.

Commercial rock 'n' roll music is a brutalization of the stream of contemporary Negro church...

Commercial rock 'n' roll music is a brutalization of the stream of contemporary Negro church...

I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed...

I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed...

America is woven of many strands. I would recognise them and let it so remain....

America is woven of many strands. I would recognise them and let it so remain....

All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried...

All my life I had been looking for something, and everywhere I turned someone tried...

Hibernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action.

Hibernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action.

Power doesn't have to show off. Power is confident, self-assuring, self-starting and self-stopping, self-warming and...

Power doesn't have to show off. Power is confident, self-assuring, self-starting and self-stopping, self-warming and...

There is no such thing as a great talent without great will power.

There is no such thing as a great talent without great will power.

Man's greatness lies in his power of thought.

Man's greatness lies in his power of thought.

To know the pains of power, we must go to those who have it; to...

To know the pains of power, we must go to those who have it; to...