50+ Powerful Toni Morrison Quotes on Love, Life, Hardships, Freedom & Writing 

50+ Powerful Toni Morrison Quotes on Love, Life, Hardships, Freedom & Writing 

One of the most prolific writers of all time. Toni Morrison, who passed away recently, was a titan of literature and a representative of black literature. At the time of her death in 2019, she was a Pulitzer Prize winner, the first black female editor at Random House, and the first (and only) Black woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature. She even received the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2012.

More significantly, Morrison has cemented the black experience throughout American history in prose that is fluid, hypnotic, and downright stunning, earning him a place in readers’ hearts and bookcases everywhere. Our argument is that you should read some books with Toni Morrison quotes. You’ll discover that there is a lot to catch up on. Because of this, we have included some of the most insightful quotes that will help you understand without even reading all of her books.

Morrison is frank but kind in his speech. She never holds back the truth as she bravely faces the challenging realities of life. She was able to reshape people’s thoughts by doing this and establish a strong connection with her audience. These Toni Morrison quotes are certain to inspire you, whether you’re looking for the willpower to get through a challenging situation or simply need a gentle reminder to believe in yourself.  Also, enjoy the top-notch collection of other best quotes & summaries from renowned authors & self-help books. 

🏆👉 52 Powerful Toni Morrison Quotes on Life, Love & Friendship

1. “When I woke up I reminded myself that freedom is never free. You have to fight for it. Work for it and make sure you are able to handle it.”

– Toni Morrison, God Help the Child
“If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.” – Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon-min

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

– Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

3. “Look to yourself. You free. Nothing and nobody is obliged to save you but you… Somewhere inside you is that free person I’m talking about. Locate her and let her do some good in the world.

– Toni Morrison, Home
“But to find out the truth about how dreams die, one should never take the word of the dreamer.” – Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye-min

4. “But to find out the truth about how dreams die, one should never take the word of the dreamer.”

– Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

5. Being good to somebody is just like being mean to somebody. Risky. You don’t get nothing for it.”

– Toni Morrison, Sula
“Correct what you can; learn from what you can’t.” – Toni Morrison, God Help the Child-min

6. “Correct what you can; learn from what you can’t.”

– Toni Morrison, God Help the Child
“Today is always here... Tomorrow, never.” – Toni Morrison, Beloved-min

7. Today is always here… Tomorrow, never.”

– Toni Morrison, Beloved

8. “It’s not about choosing somebody over her. It’s about making space for somebody along with her.”

– Toni Morrison, Beloved

9. “She was fierce in the presence of death, heroic even, as she was at no other time. Its threat gave her direction, clarity, audacity.”

– Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon

10. “It was lovely. Not to be stared at, not seen, but being pulled into view by the interested, uncritical eyes of the other.”

– Toni Morrison, Beloved

11. “I’ll tell you a real one. You got anything left to you to love, anything at all, do it.”

– Toni Morrison, Jazz
“Love is or it ain't. Thin love ain't love at all.” – Toni Morrison, Beloved-min

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

– Toni Morrison, Beloved

13. “Like friendship, hatred needed more than physical intimacy; it wanted creativity and hard work to sustain itself.”

– Toni Morrison, Love

14. “More than fear of loving bears or birds bigger than cows, I fear pathless nights. How, I wonder, can I find you in the dark?”

– Toni Morrison, A Mercy

15. “I have only to break into the tightness of a strawberry, and I see summer—it’s dust and lowering skies.”

– Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

16. “So when I think of autumn, I think of somebody with hands who does not want me to die.”

– Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
“Don't ever think I fell for you, or fell over you. I didn't fall in love, I rose in it.” – Toni Morrison, Jazz-min

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

– Toni Morrison, Jazz
“When fear rules, obedience is the only survival choice.” – Toni Morrison, God Help the Child-min

18. “When fear rules, obedience is the only survival choice.”

– Toni Morrison, God Help the Child

19. “Which was what love was: unmotivated respect.”

Toni Morrison, Paradise
“Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.” – Toni Morrison, Beloved-min

20. “Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”

  – Toni Morrison, Beloved

21. “The sun and the moon shared the horizon in a distant friendship, each unfazed by the other.”

– Toni Morrison, God Help the Child

22. “To be given dominion over another is a hard thing; to wrest dominion over another is a wrong thing; to give dominion of yourself to another is a wicked thing.”

Toni Morrison, A Mercy
“You couldn’t learn age, but adulthood was there for all.” – Toni Morrison, Home-min

23. “You couldn’t learn age, but adulthood was there for all.”

– Toni Morrison, Home

24. “The visionary language of the doomed reaches heights of linguistic ardor with which language of the blessed and saved cannot compete.”

– Toni Morrison, Paradise

25. “So this is what insanity is. Not goofy behavior, but watching a sudden change in the world you used to know.”

– Toni Morrison, God Help the Child
“We never shape the world... the world shapes us.” – Toni Morrison, A Mercy-min

26. “We never shape the world… the world shapes us.”

– Toni Morrison, A Mercy

27. “When good people take you in and treat you good, you ought to try to be good back.”

– Toni Morrison, Beloved

28. “The presence of evil was something to be first recognized, then dealt with, survived, outwitted, triumphed over.”

– Toni Morrison, Sula

29. “How exquisitely human was the wish for permanent happiness, and how thin human imagination became trying to achieve it.”

– Toni Morrison, Paradise
“Sifting daylight dissolves the memory, turns it into dust motes floating in light.” – Toni Morrison, Beloved-min

30. “Sifting daylight dissolves the memory, turns it into dust motes floating in light.”

Toni Morrison, Beloved

31. “He relished never knowing what lay in his path, who might approach with what intention.”

– Toni Morrison, A Mercy

32. “No matter how hard we try to ignore it, the mind always knows truth and wants clarity.”

– Toni Morrison, God Help the Child
“Nothing and nobody is obliged to save you but you.” – Toni Morrison, Home-min

33. “Nothing and nobody is obliged to save you but you.”

– Toni Morrison, Home

34. “’When you gone to get married? You need to have some babies. It’ll settle you.’ ‘I don’t want to make somebody else. I want to make myself.’”

– Toni Morrison, Sula

35. “No matter what all your teeth and wet fingers anticipated, there was no accounting for the way that simple joy could shake you.”

– Toni Morrison, Beloved

36. “The human body is robust. It can gather strength when it’s in mortal danger.”

– Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon
“Death is a sure thing but life is just as certain. Problem is you can't know in advance.” – Toni Morrison, Home-min

37. “Death is a sure thing but life is just as certain. Problem is you can’t know in advance.”

– Toni Morrison, Home

38. “Misery don’t call ahead. That’s why you have to stay awake—otherwise it just walks on in your door.”

– Toni Morrison, Home
“What's the world for you if you can't make it up the way you want it_” – Toni Morrison, Jazz-min

39. “What’s the world for you if you can’t make it up the way you want it?”

– Toni Morrison, Jazz

40. “We must do all we can to imagine the Other before we presume to solve the problems work and life demand of us.”

– Toni Morrison, The Source of Self-Regard: Selected Essays, Speeches, and Meditations

41. “I need to use everything—sound, image, performance—to get at the full meaning of the story.”

– Toni Morrison, Tar Baby
“What a man leaves behind is what a man is.” – Toni Morrison, A Mercy-min

42. “What a man leaves behind is what a man is.”

– Toni Morrison, A Mercy
“Everything depends on knowing how much... Good is knowing when to stop.” – Toni Morrison, Beloved-min
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43. “Everything depends on knowing how much… Good is knowing when to stop.”

– Toni Morrison, Beloved

44. “Beauty was not simply something to behold; it was something one could do.”

– Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

45. “Hate does that. Burns off everything but itself, so whatever your grievance is, your face looks just like your enemy’s.”

– Toni Morrison, Love
“Definitions belong to the definers—not the defined.” – Toni Morrison, Beloved-min

46. “Definitions belong to the definers—not the defined.”

– Toni Morrison, Beloved

47. “A daughter is a woman that cares about where she come from and takes care of them that took care of her.”

– Toni Morrison, Tar Baby

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

Toni Morrison, Sula
“The best thing she was, was her children.” – Toni Morrison, Beloved-min

49. “The best thing she was, was her children.”

Toni Morrison, Beloved

50. “I don’t think many people appreciate silence or realize that it is as close to music as you can get.”

– Toni Morrison, God Help the Child
“Her passions were narrow but deep.” – Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon-min

51. “Her passions were narrow but deep.”

– Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon
“Her color is a cross she will always carry.” – Toni Morrison, God Help the Child-min

52. “Her color is a cross she will always carry.”

– Toni Morrison, God Help the Child

🏆👉   The Key Takeaway

Through her poems, essays, and works like Sula, The Song of Solomon, and The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison devoted her life to writing about real-life human experiences. Even though she had already passed away, her legacy continues to this day, serving as a reminder of the widespread racism that is still present in our society and the need for us to take action to stop it. Which Toni Morrison quotes struck you the most? Do you have any additional quotations you’d like us to use? Put a list of them in the section below.

💬✍ Feel free to comment below, if you have any suggestions regarding the book summarize & quotes. We’d love to read your comments & provide you with the top book summaries & recommendations you want.

🏆👉 Also, we have summarized hundreds of books in different categories & recommended a variety of best book listicles to help you select the right book to gather excellent knowledge. 

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