In becoming an American, from Europe, what one has in common with that other immigrant is contempt for me-it's nothing else but color.

Quote by Toni Morrison

Topics: Toni Morrison Quotes

I like marriage. The idea.

I like marriage. The idea.

My children are delightful people, whom I would love even if they weren't my children.

My children are delightful people, whom I would love even if they weren't my children.

No one ever talks about the moment you found that you were white. Or the...

No one ever talks about the moment you found that you were white. Or the...

Too much tail. All that jewelry weighs it down. Like vanity. Can't nobody fly with...

Too much tail. All that jewelry weighs it down. Like vanity. Can't nobody fly with...

She is a friend of mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she...

She is a friend of mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she...

Black literature is taught as sociology, as tolerance, not as a serious, rigorous art form.

Black literature is taught as sociology, as tolerance, not as a serious, rigorous art form.

I'm not entangled in shaping my work according to other people's views of how I...

I'm not entangled in shaping my work according to other people's views of how I...

As you enter positions of trust and power, dream a little before you think.

As you enter positions of trust and power, dream a little before you think.

The unflattering reviews are painful for short periods of time; the badly written ones are...

The unflattering reviews are painful for short periods of time; the badly written ones are...

If you're going to hold someone down you're going to have to hold on by...

If you're going to hold someone down you're going to have to hold on by...

If there's a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet,...

If there's a book you really want to read but it hasn't been written yet,...

Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.

Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.

For a long time I was convinced that the conflict between Jewish people and black...

For a long time I was convinced that the conflict between Jewish people and black...

The ability of writers to imagine what is not the self, to familiarize the strange...

The ability of writers to imagine what is not the self, to familiarize the strange...

I always looked upon the acts of racist exclusion, or insult, as pitiable, from the...

I always looked upon the acts of racist exclusion, or insult, as pitiable, from the...

I remember a very important lesson that my father gave me when I was twelve...

I remember a very important lesson that my father gave me when I was twelve...

In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.

In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.

Everywhere, everywhere, children are the scorned people of the earth.

Everywhere, everywhere, children are the scorned people of the earth.

I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it.

I wrote my first novel because I wanted to read it.

All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where...

All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where...