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

Quote by Toni Morrison

Topics: Toni Morrison Quotes

A lot of black people believe that Jews in this country have become white. They...

A lot of black people believe that Jews in this country have become white. They...

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...

Black boys became criminalized. I was in constant dread for their lives, because they were...

Black boys became criminalized. I was in constant dread for their lives, because they were...

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...

I merged those two words, black and feminist, because I was surrounded by black women...

I merged those two words, black and feminist, because I was surrounded by black women...

One of my kids was born in 1968. There were going to be political difficulties,...

One of my kids was born in 1968. There were going to be political difficulties,...

When there is pain, there are no words. All pain is the same.

When there is pain, there are no words. All pain is the same.

A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not...

A sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not...

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.

Women's rights is not only an abstraction, a cause; it is also a personal affair....

Women's rights is not only an abstraction, a cause; it is also a personal affair....

I would solve a lot of literary problems just thinking about a character in the...

I would solve a lot of literary problems just thinking about a character in the...

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.

If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.

If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.

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...

Schools must stop being holding pens to keep energetic young people off the job market...

Schools must stop being holding pens to keep energetic young people off the job market...

It's been mentioned or suggested that Paradise will not be well studied, because it's about...

It's been mentioned or suggested that Paradise will not be well studied, because it's about...

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,...

Learning hath gained most by those books by which the printers have lost.

Learning hath gained most by those books by which the printers have lost.

Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind, which are delivered down...

Books are the legacies that a great genius leaves to mankind, which are delivered down...

Authorship, according to the spirit in which it is pursued, is an infancy, a pastime,...

Authorship, according to the spirit in which it is pursued, is an infancy, a pastime,...