24 Toni Morrison Quotable Quotes

Toni Morrison (born Chloe Ardelia Wofford on February 18, 1931 - August 5th, 2019) is a Nobel Prize and Pulitzer Prize-winning American author, editor, and professor.

Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed black characters.

Here are 24 quotable quotes drawn from her books and lectures:

“If there's a book that u want to read, but it hasn't been written yet, then u must write it.” 

“At some point in life the world's beauty becomes enough.”  

“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.” 

“Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.” 

“Don't ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn't fall in love, I rose in it.” 

“Love is never any better than the lover.” 

“You are your best thing.” 

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

“What difference does it make if the thing you scared of is real or not?” 

“The function of freedom is to free someone else.” 

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

“Anything dead coming back to life hurts.” 

“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” 

“Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all.” 

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

“Lonely was much better than alone.” 

“It is sheer good fortune to miss somebody long before they leave you.”

“A dream is just a nightmare with lipstick.”

“All paradises, all utopias are designed by who is not there, by the people who are not allowed in.” 

“All water has a perfect memory and is forever trying to get back to where it was.” 

“Not knowing it was hard; knowing it was harder” 

“I dream a dream that dreams back at me.” 

“Birth, life, and death -- each took place on the hidden side of a leaf.” 

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