---
title: "1 Face Hard Quotes By Colson Whitehead"
description: "1 Face Hard quotes by Colson Whitehead. Plus more from Colson Whitehead and more Face Hard sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/colson-whitehead-1042_extreme-pain_dressed-she-s-in-front-of-the-mirror-arm_1469720.png"
---

> [“Dressed, she’s in front of the mirror. Armed. She puts her face on. In her case, not a matter of cosmetics, but will. How to make such a sad face hard? It took practice. Not in front of a mirror…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/dressed-she-s-in-front-of-the-mirror-armed-she-puts-her-face-on-in/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/colson-whitehead-1042_extreme-pain_dressed-she-s-in-front-of-the-mirror-arm_1469720.png)

## More by Colson Whitehead

> [I'd never been much of an athlete, due to a physical condition I'd had since birth (unathleticism). Perhaps if there were a sport centered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/i-d-never-been-much-of-an-athlete-due-to-a-physical-condition-i-d-had/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

> [I want to keep growing as a writer. I find myself doing unexpected projects and sort of challenging my idea of where I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/i-want-to-keep-growing-as-a-writer-i-find-myself-doing-unexpected/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

> [“Every Tuesday, James Fulton (and later, Orville Lever) stood in the downstairs drawing room and lectured on the intricacies of his science. Lectured on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/every-tuesday-james-fulton-and-later-orville-lever-stood-in-the/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

> [I started writing in the '90s, so I was free to just have an eccentric career and not conform to some idea of what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/i-started-writing-in-the-90s-so-i-was-free-to-just-have-an-eccentric/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

> [“Is this the truth of our historic encounter?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/is-this-the-truth-of-our-historic-encounter/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

> [“The Great War had always been between the white and the black. It always would be. Cora”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/the-great-war-had-always-been-between-the-white-and-the-black-it/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

> [“The worst sort of scoundrels took up the chase. Drunkards, incorrigibles, poor whites who didn’t even own shoes delighted in this opportunity to scourge…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/the-worst-sort-of-scoundrels-took-up-the-chase-drunkards/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

> [Don’t go searching for a subject, let your subject find you. You can’t rush inspiration. … Once your subject finds you, it’s like falling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/don-t-go-searching-for-a-subject-let-your-subject-find-you-you-can-t/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

> [“its terms? Homer watched her as she dressed, like a valet who had waited on her since the cradle. “I’m caught,” Cora said. “You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/its-terms-homer-watched-her-as-she-dressed-like-a-valet-who-had/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

> [These days I find myself wanting to avoid being pigeon-holed, ghettoized, held in a different category than other authors. And when people ask me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/these-days-i-find-myself-wanting-to-avoid-being-pigeon-holed/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

> [Part of any book is establishing the rules at the end of the world. My first book, 'The Intuitionist,' takes place in an alternative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/part-of-any-book-is-establishing-the-rules-at-the-end-of-the-world-my/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

> [There's always an attack on the sophomore novel from some quarters.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/there-s-always-an-attack-on-the-sophomore-novel-from-some-quarters/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

> [“All he felt now was envy. These people had expectations. Of the world, of the future, it didn't matter--expectation was such an innovative concept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/all-he-felt-now-was-envy-these-people-had-expectations-of-the-world/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

> [Growing up as a product of the black civil-rights movement, I had a lot of different models for black weirdness, whether it's Richard Pryor…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/growing-up-as-a-product-of-the-black-civil-rights-movement-i-had-a/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

> [Schools don't teach American history that well, especially a lot of black American history.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/schools-don-t-teach-american-history-that-well-especially-a-lot-of/)

[Colson Whitehead](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colson-whitehead/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face-hard/colson-whitehead/#itemlist",
            "name": "1 Face Hard Quotes By Colson Whitehead",
            "numberOfItems": 1,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "“Dressed, she’s in front of the mirror. Armed. She puts her face on. In her case, not a matter of cosmetics, but will. How to make such a sad face hard? It took practice. Not in front of a mirror or in front of strangers, gauging her success by their expressions of horror, disgust, etc. She did it by lying in her bed, feeling and testing which muscles in her face pained under application of concerted tension. To choose the most extreme pain would be to make a fright mask. A caricature of strength. She achieved calibration one night while testing a small muscle attached to her upper lip hitting upon a register of pain a few inches below the high-tide mark of real pain. This register of discomfort became the standard for all the muscles in her face, above the eyebrows under the jaw, across the nostrils. She didn’t check with the small mirror in the janitor’s closet, didn’t need to. She knew she’d hit it.”",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Colson Whitehead"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colson-whitehead/dressed-she-s-in-front-of-the-mirror-armed-she-puts-her-face-on-in/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/colson-whitehead-1042_extreme-pain_dressed-she-s-in-front-of-the-mirror-arm_1469720.png",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/colson-whitehead-1042_extreme-pain_dressed-she-s-in-front-of-the-mirror-arm_1469720.png",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/colson-whitehead-1042_extreme-pain_dressed-she-s-in-front-of-the-mirror-arm_1469720.png",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“Dressed, she’s in front of the mirror. Armed. She puts her face on. In her case, not a matter of cosmetics…” — Colson Whitehead",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face-hard/colson-whitehead/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face-hard/colson-whitehead/",
            "name": "Face Hard Quotes by Colson Whitehead",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face-hard/colson-whitehead/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/669/colson-whitehead-1042_extreme-pain_dressed-she-s-in-front-of-the-mirror-arm_1469720.png"
            },
            "description": "1 Face Hard quotes by Colson Whitehead. Plus more from Colson Whitehead and more Face Hard sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face-hard/colson-whitehead/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face-hard/colson-whitehead/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Face Hard",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face-hard/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Colson Whitehead",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/face-hard/colson-whitehead/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
