--- title: "21 Ifs Quotes By Toni Morrison" description: "21 Ifs quotes by Toni Morrison. Plus more from Toni Morrison and more Ifs sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c6/toni-morrison-271_ifs_if-we-had-no-language-we-d-have-nothing_3148849.jpg" --- > [If we had no language we'd have nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-we-had-no-language-we-d-have-nothing/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c6/toni-morrison-271_ifs_if-we-had-no-language-we-d-have-nothing_3148849.jpg) > [If you can't count, they can cheat you. If you can't read, they can beat you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-you-can-t-count-they-can-cheat-you-if-you-can-t-read-they-can-beat/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/10c/toni-morrison-271_adolescence_if-you-can-t-count-they-can-cheat-you-if_35370.jpg) > [If I’d a knowed more, I would a loved more.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-i-d-a-knowed-more-i-would-a-loved-more/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/05e/toni-morrison-271_funny_if-i-d-a-knowed-more-i-would-a-loved-mor_225268.jpg) > [I can't explain inspiration. A writer is either compelled to write or not. And if I waited for inspiration I wouldn't really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/i-can-t-explain-inspiration-a-writer-is-either-compelled-to-write-or/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b3c/toni-morrison-271_compelled_i-can-t-explain-inspiration-a-writer-is_554309.jpg) > [Black women have always been friends. I mean, if you didn't have each other you had nothing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/black-women-have-always-been-friends-i-mean-if-you-didn-t-have-each/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/c6f/toni-morrison-271_black_black-women-have-always-been-friends-i-m_1503250.jpg) > [If you can only be tall because someone else is on their knees, then you have a serious problem. And white people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-you-can-only-be-tall-because-someone-else-is-on-their-knees-then/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4a9/toni-morrison-271_ifs_if-you-can-only-be-tall-because-someone_1968512.jpg) > [If a Negro got legs he ought to use them. Sit down too long, somebody will figure out a way to tie…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-a-negro-got-legs-he-ought-to-use-them-sit-down-too-long-somebody/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/toni-morrison-271_beloved_if-a-negro-got-legs-he-ought-to-use-them_2670302.jpg) > [If writing is thinking and discovery and selection and order and meaning, it is also awe and reverence and mystery and magic.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-writing-is-thinking-and-discovery-and-selection-and-order-and-2/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/353/toni-morrison-271_awe_if-writing-is-thinking-and-discovery-and_3054023.jpg) > [An innocent man is a sin before God. Inhuman and therefore untrustworthy. No man should live without absorbing the sins of his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/an-innocent-man-is-a-sin-before-god-inhuman-and-therefore/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/217/toni-morrison-271_absorbing_an-innocent-man-is-a-sin-before-god-inhu_1367614.jpg) > [I have difficulties with contemporary language. Big difficulties. I counted, you know, something like 160 words have disappeared from the English language…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/i-have-difficulties-with-contemporary-language-big-difficulties-i/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/toni-morrison-271_bigs_i-have-difficulties-with-contemporary-la_2210915.jpg) > [If you take racism away from certain people - I mean, vitriolic racism as well as the sort of social racist -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-you-take-racism-away-from-certain-people-i-mean-vitriolic-racism/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/884/toni-morrison-271_certain_if-you-take-racism-away-from-certain-peo_2565157.jpg) > [Please don't settle for happiness. It's not good enough. Of course you deserve it, but if that's all you have in mind…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/please-don-t-settle-for-happiness-it-s-not-good-enough-of-course-you/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/241/toni-morrison-271_barren_please-don-t-settle-for-happiness-it-s-n_81944.jpg) > [My metaphor is that evil always has a top hat and a cape, and goodness is over there in the corner. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/my-metaphor-is-that-evil-always-has-a-top-hat-and-a-cape-and-goodness/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/toni-morrison-271_capes_my-metaphor-is-that-evil-always-has-a-to_2430327.jpg) > [Love is divine only and difficult always. If you think it is easy you are a fool. If you think it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/love-is-divine-only-and-difficult-always-if-you-think-it-is-easy-you/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd3/toni-morrison-271_application_love-is-divine-only-and-difficult-always_1322346.jpg) > [Sometimes the names were humiliating, deliberately so. Somebody would pick out your flaw. If you were little, they would call you Shorty.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/sometimes-the-names-were-humiliating-deliberately-so-somebody-would/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7e/toni-morrison-271_angry_sometimes-the-names-were-humiliating-del_1362553.jpg) > [Access to knowledge is the superb, the supreme act of truly great civilizations. Of all the institutions that purport to do this,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/access-to-knowledge-is-the-superb-the-supreme-act-of-truly-great-2/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64b/toni-morrison-271_access_access-to-knowledge-is-the-superb-the-su_1132250.jpg) > [“If writing is thinking and discovery and selection and order and meaning, it is also awe and reverence and mystery and magic…Authors…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-writing-is-thinking-and-discovery-and-selection-and-order-and/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dba/toni-morrison-271_accompany_if-writing-is-thinking-and-discovery-and_2466075.jpg) > [Some literature is knowledge, some is just data. But if I can get a "happy" ending - which is when for the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/some-literature-is-knowledge-some-is-just-data-but-if-i-can-get-a/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f73/toni-morrison-271_book_some-literature-is-knowledge-some-is-jus_2757195.jpg) > [When you first start writing-and I think it's true for a lot of beginning writers-you're scared to death that if you don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/when-you-first-start-writing-and-i-think-it-s-true-for-a-lot-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/toni-morrison-271_again-and-again_when-you-first-start-writing-and-i-think_1758127.jpg) > [All the time, I'm afraid the thing that happened that made it all right for my mother to kill my sister could…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/all-the-time-i-m-afraid-the-thing-that-happened-that-made-it-all/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fa2/toni-morrison-271_afraid_all-the-time-i-m-afraid-the-thing-that-h_3034861.jpg) > [Sometimes Joyce is hilarious. I read Finnegans Wake after graduate school and I had the great good fortune of reading it without…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/sometimes-joyce-is-hilarious-i-read-finnegans-wake-after-graduate/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/713/toni-morrison-271_block_sometimes-joyce-is-hilarious-i-read-finn_949507.jpg) ## Other authors on Ifs ## More by Toni Morrison > [Perhaps that's what all human relationships boiled down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/perhaps-that-s-what-all-human-relationships-boiled-down-to-would-you/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [There, in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-in-the-center-of-that-silence-was-not-eternity-but-the-death-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [In times of dread, artists must never choose to remain silent.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/in-times-of-dread-artists-must-never-choose-to-remain-silent/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Not know it was hard;knowing it was harder”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/not-know-it-was-hard-knowing-it-was-harder/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Didn’t everything on God’s earth have or acquire defense?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/didn-t-everything-on-god-s-earth-have-or-acquire-defense/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [If you can't count, they can cheat you. If you can't read, they can beat you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-you-can-t-count-they-can-cheat-you-if-you-can-t-read-they-can-beat/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“You looked at them and wondered why the were so ugly; you looked closely and could not find the source. Then you realized that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/you-looked-at-them-and-wondered-why-the-were-so-ugly-you-looked/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [All she saw, down in the cellar well beneath the stoop, was a light yellow feather with a tip of green. And she had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/all-she-saw-down-in-the-cellar-well-beneath-the-stoop-was-a-light/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [For me, Art is the restoration of order. It may discuss all sort of terrible things, but there must be satisfaction at the end.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/for-me-art-is-the-restoration-of-order-it-may-discuss-all-sort-of/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“To Sethe, the future was a matter of keeping the past at bay”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/to-sethe-the-future-was-a-matter-of-keeping-the-past-at-bay/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“Hate does that. Burns off everything but itself, so whatever your grievance is, your face looks just like your enemy's.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/hate-does-that-burns-off-everything-but-itself-so-whatever-your/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“You know how a star is supposed to twinkle? We say twinkle because that is how it looks, but when a star feels itself,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/you-know-how-a-star-is-supposed-to-twinkle-we-say-twinkle-because/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“There is no bad luck in the world but whitefolks”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/there-is-no-bad-luck-in-the-world-but-whitefolks/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [My father saw two black men lynched on his street in Cartersville, as a child. And I think seeing two black businessmen - not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/my-father-saw-two-black-men-lynched-on-his-street-in-cartersville-as/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) > [“She was fierce in the presence of death, heroic even, as she was at no other time. Its threat gave her direction, clarity, audacity.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/she-was-fierce-in-the-presence-of-death-heroic-even-as-she-was-at-no/) [Toni Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-morrison/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ifs/toni-morrison/#itemlist", "name": "21 Ifs Quotes By Toni Morrison", "numberOfItems": 21, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If we had no language we'd have nothing.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Toni Morrison" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-we-had-no-language-we-d-have-nothing/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c6/toni-morrison-271_ifs_if-we-had-no-language-we-d-have-nothing_3148849.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c6/toni-morrison-271_ifs_if-we-had-no-language-we-d-have-nothing_3148849.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5c6/toni-morrison-271_ifs_if-we-had-no-language-we-d-have-nothing_3148849.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If we had no language we'd have nothing.” — Toni Morrison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you can't count, they can cheat you. 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Sit down too long, somebody will figure out a way to tie them up.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Toni Morrison" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-a-negro-got-legs-he-ought-to-use-them-sit-down-too-long-somebody/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/toni-morrison-271_beloved_if-a-negro-got-legs-he-ought-to-use-them_2670302.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/toni-morrison-271_beloved_if-a-negro-got-legs-he-ought-to-use-them_2670302.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d97/toni-morrison-271_beloved_if-a-negro-got-legs-he-ought-to-use-them_2670302.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If a Negro got legs he ought to use them. 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Inhuman and therefore untrustworthy. No man should live without absorbing the sins of his kind, the foul air of his innocence, even if it did wilt rows of angel trumpets and cause them to fall from their vines.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Toni Morrison" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/an-innocent-man-is-a-sin-before-god-inhuman-and-therefore/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/217/toni-morrison-271_absorbing_an-innocent-man-is-a-sin-before-god-inhu_1367614.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/217/toni-morrison-271_absorbing_an-innocent-man-is-a-sin-before-god-inhu_1367614.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/217/toni-morrison-271_absorbing_an-innocent-man-is-a-sin-before-god-inhu_1367614.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“An innocent man is a sin before God. Inhuman and therefore untrustworthy. No man should live without…” — Toni Morrison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 10, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "I have difficulties with contemporary language. Big difficulties. I counted, you know, something like 160 words have disappeared from the English language because of the use of the word \"like.\" \"I'm like, he's like\" - not \"thought,\" not \"as if .\"", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Toni Morrison" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/i-have-difficulties-with-contemporary-language-big-difficulties-i/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/toni-morrison-271_bigs_i-have-difficulties-with-contemporary-la_2210915.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/toni-morrison-271_bigs_i-have-difficulties-with-contemporary-la_2210915.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/66a/toni-morrison-271_bigs_i-have-difficulties-with-contemporary-la_2210915.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have difficulties with contemporary language. Big difficulties. I counted, you know, something like 160…” — Toni Morrison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 11, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If you take racism away from certain people - I mean, vitriolic racism as well as the sort of social racist - if you take that away, they may have to face something really terrible, misery, self-misery, and deep pain about who they are.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Toni Morrison" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-you-take-racism-away-from-certain-people-i-mean-vitriolic-racism/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/884/toni-morrison-271_certain_if-you-take-racism-away-from-certain-peo_2565157.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/884/toni-morrison-271_certain_if-you-take-racism-away-from-certain-peo_2565157.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/884/toni-morrison-271_certain_if-you-take-racism-away-from-certain-peo_2565157.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If you take racism away from certain people - I mean, vitriolic racism as well as the sort of social racist…” — Toni Morrison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 12, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Please don't settle for happiness. It's not good enough. Of course you deserve it, but if that's all you have in mind - happiness - I want to suggest to you that personal success devoid of meaningfulness, free of a steady commitment to social justice - that's more than a barren life. It's a trivial one.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Toni Morrison" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/please-don-t-settle-for-happiness-it-s-not-good-enough-of-course-you/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/241/toni-morrison-271_barren_please-don-t-settle-for-happiness-it-s-n_81944.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/241/toni-morrison-271_barren_please-don-t-settle-for-happiness-it-s-n_81944.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/241/toni-morrison-271_barren_please-don-t-settle-for-happiness-it-s-n_81944.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Please don't settle for happiness. It's not good enough. Of course you deserve it, but if that's all you…” — Toni Morrison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 13, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "My metaphor is that evil always has a top hat and a cape, and goodness is over there in the corner. For me it's just too easy, if you hate your country or your wife, so you kill them. You can't think through that, you can't feel through that, you can't do the work. And now we have guns. Solution? I don't think so.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Toni Morrison" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/my-metaphor-is-that-evil-always-has-a-top-hat-and-a-cape-and-goodness/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/toni-morrison-271_capes_my-metaphor-is-that-evil-always-has-a-to_2430327.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/toni-morrison-271_capes_my-metaphor-is-that-evil-always-has-a-to_2430327.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/toni-morrison-271_capes_my-metaphor-is-that-evil-always-has-a-to_2430327.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“My metaphor is that evil always has a top hat and a cape, and goodness is over there in the corner. For me…” — Toni Morrison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 14, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Love is divine only and difficult always. If you think it is easy you are a fool. If you think it is natural you are blind. It is a learned application without reason or motive except that it is God.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Toni Morrison" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/love-is-divine-only-and-difficult-always-if-you-think-it-is-easy-you/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd3/toni-morrison-271_application_love-is-divine-only-and-difficult-always_1322346.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd3/toni-morrison-271_application_love-is-divine-only-and-difficult-always_1322346.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fd3/toni-morrison-271_application_love-is-divine-only-and-difficult-always_1322346.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Love is divine only and difficult always. If you think it is easy you are a fool. If you think it is natural…” — Toni Morrison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 15, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Sometimes the names were humiliating, deliberately so. Somebody would pick out your flaw. If you were little, they would call you Shorty. And if you were angry, they would call you the Devil.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Toni Morrison" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/sometimes-the-names-were-humiliating-deliberately-so-somebody-would/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7e/toni-morrison-271_angry_sometimes-the-names-were-humiliating-del_1362553.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7e/toni-morrison-271_angry_sometimes-the-names-were-humiliating-del_1362553.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b7e/toni-morrison-271_angry_sometimes-the-names-were-humiliating-del_1362553.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Sometimes the names were humiliating, deliberately so. Somebody would pick out your flaw. If you were…” — Toni Morrison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 16, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Access to knowledge is the superb, the supreme act of truly great civilizations. Of all the institutions that purport to do this, free libraries stand virtually alone in accomplishing this mission. No committee decides who may enter, no crisis of body or spirit must accompany the entrant. No tuition is charged, no oath sworn, no visa demanded. Of the monuments humans build for themselves, very few say - touch me, use me, my hush is not indifference, my space is not barrier. If I inspire awe, it is because I am in awe of you and the possibilities that dwell in you.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Toni Morrison" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/access-to-knowledge-is-the-superb-the-supreme-act-of-truly-great-2/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64b/toni-morrison-271_access_access-to-knowledge-is-the-superb-the-su_1132250.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64b/toni-morrison-271_access_access-to-knowledge-is-the-superb-the-su_1132250.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/64b/toni-morrison-271_access_access-to-knowledge-is-the-superb-the-su_1132250.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Access to knowledge is the superb, the supreme act of truly great civilizations. Of all the institutions…” — Toni Morrison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 17, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“If writing is thinking and discovery and selection and order and meaning, it is also awe and reverence and mystery and magic…Authors arrive at text and subtext in thousands of ways, learning each time they begin anew how to recognize a valuable idea and how to reader the texture that accompanies, reveals or displays it to its best advantage.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Toni Morrison" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/if-writing-is-thinking-and-discovery-and-selection-and-order-and/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dba/toni-morrison-271_accompany_if-writing-is-thinking-and-discovery-and_2466075.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dba/toni-morrison-271_accompany_if-writing-is-thinking-and-discovery-and_2466075.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/dba/toni-morrison-271_accompany_if-writing-is-thinking-and-discovery-and_2466075.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If writing is thinking and discovery and selection and order and meaning, it is also awe and reverence and…” — Toni Morrison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 18, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Some literature is knowledge, some is just data. But if I can get a \"happy\" ending - which is when for the characters I'm writing about, something happens that they move from wherever they are in the beginning to knowledge or wisdom, they know something they never would have acknowledged or realized if it hadn't been for my book - that for me is what literature does.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Toni Morrison" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/some-literature-is-knowledge-some-is-just-data-but-if-i-can-get-a/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f73/toni-morrison-271_book_some-literature-is-knowledge-some-is-jus_2757195.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f73/toni-morrison-271_book_some-literature-is-knowledge-some-is-jus_2757195.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f73/toni-morrison-271_book_some-literature-is-knowledge-some-is-jus_2757195.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Some literature is knowledge, some is just data. But if I can get a \"happy\" ending - which is when for the…” — Toni Morrison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 19, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When you first start writing-and I think it's true for a lot of beginning writers-you're scared to death that if you don't get that sentence right that minute it's never going to show up again. And it isn't. But it doesn't matter-another one will, and it'll probably be better. And I don't mind writing badly for a couple of days because I know I can fix it-and fix it again and again and again, and it will be better.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Toni Morrison" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-morrison/when-you-first-start-writing-and-i-think-it-s-true-for-a-lot-of/", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/toni-morrison-271_again-and-again_when-you-first-start-writing-and-i-think_1758127.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/toni-morrison-271_again-and-again_when-you-first-start-writing-and-i-think_1758127.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/cf1/toni-morrison-271_again-and-again_when-you-first-start-writing-and-i-think_1758127.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When you first start writing-and I think it's true for a lot of beginning writers-you're scared to death…” — Toni Morrison", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } } }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 20, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "All the time, I'm afraid the thing that happened that made it all right for my mother to kill my sister could happen again. I don't know what it is, I don't know who it is, but maybe there is something else terrible enough to make her do it again. I need to know what that thing might be, but I don't want to. Whatever it is, it comes from outside this house, outside the yard, and it can come right on in the yard if it wants to. 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I read Finnegans Wake after graduate school and I had the great good fortune of reading it without any help. I don't know if I read it right, but it was hilarious! I laughed constantly! I didn't know what was going on for whole blocks but it didn't matter because I wasn't going to be graded on it. I think the reason why everyone still has so much fun with Shakespeare is because he didn't have any literary critic. He was just doing it; and there were no reviews except for people throwing stuff on stage. 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