---
title: "1 Words Thing Quotes By Claudia Rankine"
description: "1 Words Thing quotes by Claudia Rankine. Plus more from Claudia Rankine and more Words Thing sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/claudia-rankine-10349_communicate_i-think-words-are-the-thing-that-either_1644420.jpg"
---

> [I think words are the thing that either triumphs for you, in your desire to communicate something, or fails. I love language because when it succeeds, for me, it doesn't just tell me something. It enacts something. It creates something.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-think-words-are-the-thing-that-either-triumphs-for-you-in-your/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/bfc/claudia-rankine-10349_communicate_i-think-words-are-the-thing-that-either_1644420.jpg)

## More by Claudia Rankine

> [I don't know about forgiving, but it's an "I'm still here." And it's not just because I have nowhere else to go. It's because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-don-t-know-about-forgiving-but-it-s-an-i-m-still-here-and-it-s-not/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

> [So you're just moving along and suddenly you get this moment that breaks your ability to continue, and yet you continue. I wanted those…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/so-you-re-just-moving-along-and-suddenly-you-get-this-moment-that/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

> [“because white men can't police their imagination black people are dying”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/because-white-men-can-t-police-their-imagination-black-people-are/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

> [Whereas if you were writing an op-ed piece or an essay, somebody would be asking, "What's your point?" With poetry you can stay in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/whereas-if-you-were-writing-an-op-ed-piece-or-an-essay-somebody-would/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

> [Because white men can’t police their imaginations, black men are dying.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/because-white-men-can-t-police-their-imaginations-black-men-are-dying/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

> [Define loneliness? Yes. It's what we can't do for each other.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/define-loneliness-yes-it-s-what-we-can-t-do-for-each-other/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

> [I asked a lot of friends and people I'd meet, "Can you tell me a story of a micro-aggression that happened to you in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-asked-a-lot-of-friends-and-people-i-d-meet-can-you-tell-me-a-story/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

> [“The past is a life sentence, a blunt instrument aimed at tomorrow.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/the-past-is-a-life-sentence-a-blunt-instrument-aimed-at-tomorrow/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

> [The subject who speaks is situated in relation to the other. This privilege of the other ceases to be incomprehensible once we admit that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/the-subject-who-speaks-is-situated-in-relation-to-the-other-this/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

> [Where is the safest place when that place / must be someplace other than in the body?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/where-is-the-safest-place-when-that-place-must-be-someplace-other/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

> [The worst injury is feeling you don't belong so much / to you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/the-worst-injury-is-feeling-you-don-t-belong-so-much-to-you/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

> [I’m not investigating race as much as I’m investigating intimacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-m-not-investigating-race-as-much-as-i-m-investigating-intimacy/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

> [I am invested in keeping present the forgotten bodies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-am-invested-in-keeping-present-the-forgotten-bodies/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

> [If you admit to being racist, it says you acknowledge that you are being driven by projections and stereotypes that were formed in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/if-you-admit-to-being-racist-it-says-you-acknowledge-that-you-are/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

> [“I asked another friend what it's like being the mother of a black son. "The condition of black life is one of mourning," she…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/claudia-rankine/i-asked-another-friend-what-it-s-like-being-the-mother-of-a-black-son/)

[Claudia Rankine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/claudia-rankine/)

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