Commercial rock 'n' roll music is a brutalization of the stream of contemporary Negro church music an obscene looting of a cultural expression.

Quote by Ralph Ellison

Topics: Ralph Ellison Quotes

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...

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...

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....

Education is all a matter of building bridges.

Education is all a matter of building bridges.

Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play...

Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play...

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...

Eclecticism is the word. Like a jazz musician who creates his own style out of...

Eclecticism is the word. Like a jazz musician who creates his own style out of...

By and large, the critics and readers gave me an affirmed sense of my identity...

By and large, the critics and readers gave me an affirmed sense of my identity...

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

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

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

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

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...

Hibernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action.

Hibernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action.

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

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

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...

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...

Some people are your relatives but others are your ancestors, and you choose the ones...

Some people are your relatives but others are your ancestors, and you choose the ones...

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...

People who have lost relationships often wonder why they can't just let it be water...

People who have lost relationships often wonder why they can't just let it be water...

Simplicity, clarity, singleness: These are the attributes that give our lives power and vividness and...

Simplicity, clarity, singleness: These are the attributes that give our lives power and vividness and...

Power is the ability not to have to please.

Power is the ability not to have to please.