Born Chloe Ardelia Wofford on February 18, 1931 she is better to known to us as Toni Morrison American novelist, editor, and Professor Emeritus at Princeton University. The author of over a dozen novels, short stories, children’s fiction, no fiction books, and several plays she regularly appears in our polls and on our pages as a recommended writer.
With her best known novels being The Bluest Eye, Sula, Song of Solomon, and Beloved which are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters Toni is Pulitzer Prize, American Book Award, and Nobel Prize in Literature winner.
We think she is an author who should be on everyone’s bookshelf and these beautiful Toni Morrison quotes will show you why.
“If there’s a book that you want to read, but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.”
“At some point in life the world’s beauty becomes enough. You don’t need to photograph, paint, or even remember it. It is enough”
“Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.”
“Love is or it ain’t. Thin love ain’t love at all.”
“In this country American means white. Everybody else has to hyphenate.”
“All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was”
“If you want to fly, you have to give up the things that weigh you down.”
“In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent.”
“Don’t beg anybody for anything, especially love.”
“There is no such thing as race. None. There is just a human race — scientifically, anthropologically. Racism is a construct, a social construct… it has a social function, racism.”