--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There's no idea in the world that is not…" description: "\"There's no idea in the world that is not contained by black life. I could write forever about the black experience in America.\" — August Wilson" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d7/august-wilson-3646_america_there-s-no-idea-in-the-world-that-is-not_266078.png" --- # There's no idea in the world that is not contained by… ![“There's no idea in the world that is not contained by black life. I could write forever about the black experience in America.” quote by August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d7/august-wilson-3646_america_there-s-no-idea-in-the-world-that-is-not_266078.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d7/august-wilson-3646_america_there-s-no-idea-in-the-world-that-is-not_266078.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d7/august-wilson-3646_america_there-s-no-idea-in-the-world-that-is-not_266078.png) > “There's no idea in the world that is not contained by black life. I could write forever about the black experience in America.” [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. He emphasizes that the Black experience is vast and inexhaustible, deserving endless artistic exploration. **In simple terms:** Black life offers endless stories. Key Takeaway Explore Black narratives fully. Themes culture history expression Mood thoughtful inspirational Type dramatic social When to use this quote - education - theatre - media - community dialogue Key Concepts African‑American literature storytelling Questions to Reflect On - What stories remain untold? - How can we broaden representation? A Different Perspective One perspective can’t capture all. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [America](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) [Black lives](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/black-lives/) [Ideas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ideas/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Racism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/racism/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [In the Shadow of Slavery covers two and a half centuries of black life in New York City, and skillfully interweaves the categories of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-foner/in-the-shadow-of-slavery-covers-two-and-a-half-centuries-of-black/) [Eric Foner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-foner/) > [Black life is ambiguous, and a kaleidoscope of meanings, rich, multi-sided . . . we have frozen our vision in figures that caricature, at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bartlett-johnson/black-life-is-ambiguous-and-a-kaleidoscope-of-meanings-rich-multi/) [Charles Bartlett Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bartlett-johnson/) > [We recriminalized black life. Incarceration rates since the 1908s have gone through the roof, overwhelmingly black males, women and Hispanics to some extent. Essentially…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/we-recriminalized-black-life-incarceration-rates-since-the-1908s-have/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [I don't trust white critics' judgment about most things that deal with black life, particularly when a black person is the creator.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-mcmillan/i-don-t-trust-white-critics-judgment-about-most-things-that-deal-with/) [Terry McMillan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-mcmillan/) > [The criminalization of Black life was something specific to the United States in the post-Reconstruction period and there's something like it happening today with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-criminalization-of-black-life-was-something-specific-to-the/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [It's hypocritical to say Black Lives Matter' when we know Black life begins in the womb.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angela-stanton-king/it-s-hypocritical-to-say-black-lives-matter-when-we-know-black-life/) [Angela Stanton-King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angela-stanton-king/) > [Black Lives Matter is not just concerned with what happens in policing. The disregard, the disrespect, and the lack of dignity for black life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alicia-garza/black-lives-matter-is-not-just-concerned-with-what-happens-in/) [Alicia Garza](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alicia-garza/) > [I felt like you can write forever, but you have a short time to raise a family. And I think a family is a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-kesey/i-felt-like-you-can-write-forever-but-you-have-a-short-time-to-raise/) [Ken Kesey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-kesey/) > [I don't sit here and dream because I don't care about the future. I wouldn't take nothin' for my past and I've got enough…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brownie-mcghee/i-don-t-sit-here-and-dream-because-i-don-t-care-about-the-future-i/) [Brownie McGhee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brownie-mcghee/) > [Blacks have traditionally had to operate in a situation where whites have set themselves up as the custodians of the black experience.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/blacks-have-traditionally-had-to-operate-in-a-situation-where-whites/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [I write the black experience in America, and contained within that experience, because it is a human experience, are all the universalities.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/i-write-the-black-experience-in-america-and-contained-within-that/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [I'm trying to take culture and put it onstage, demonstrate it is capable of sustaining you. There is no idea that can't be contained…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/i-m-trying-to-take-culture-and-put-it-onstage-demonstrate-it-is/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [“Beloved, to be white is to know that you have at your own hand, or by extension, through institutionalized means, the power to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-eric-dyson/beloved-to-be-white-is-to-know-that-you-have-at-your-own-hand-or-by/) [Michael Eric Dyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-eric-dyson/) > [I'm black. I've been black all my life, and as far as I know, I'll die black.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-gillum/i-m-black-i-ve-been-black-all-my-life-and-as-far-as-i-know-i-ll-die/) [Andrew Gillum](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-gillum/) > [Far from ending, systemic racism reinvents itself to conform to what is publically acceptable, leaving the quality of black life diminished and more permanently…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/opal-tometi/far-from-ending-systemic-racism-reinvents-itself-to-conform-to-what/) [Opal Tometi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/opal-tometi/) ## More by August Wilson > [Most of black America is in housing projects, without jobs, living on welfare. And this is not the case in 'The Cosby Show,' because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/most-of-black-america-is-in-housing-projects-without-jobs-living-on/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [I just write stuff down and pile it up, and when I get enough stuff, I spread it out and look at it and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/i-just-write-stuff-down-and-pile-it-up-and-when-i-get-enough-stuff-i/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [I don't look at our society today too much. My focus is still in the past, and part of the reason is because what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/i-don-t-look-at-our-society-today-too-much-my-focus-is-still-in-the/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [The director works as an interpretive artist, but he's still an artist, so you also have to give him room to create and to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/the-director-works-as-an-interpretive-artist-but-he-s-still-an-artist/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [I dropped out of school, but I didn't drop out of life. I would leave the house each morning and go to the main…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/i-dropped-out-of-school-but-i-didn-t-drop-out-of-life-i-would-leave/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [When I first started writing plays I couldn't write good dialogue because I didn't respect how black people talked. I thought that in order…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/when-i-first-started-writing-plays-i-couldn-t-write-good-dialogue/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [“Like you? I go out of here every morning...bust my butt...cause I like you? It's my job. It's my responsibility!... Not cause I like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/like-you-i-go-out-of-here-every-morning-bust-my-butt-cause-i-like-you/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [“-How long you been with the rail road now? -Twenty-seven years. Now, I'll tell you something about the railroad. What I done learned after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/how-long-you-been-with-the-rail-road-now-twenty-seven-years-now-i-ll/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [Scripts were rather scarce in 1968. We did a lot of Amiri Baraka's plays, the agitprop stuff he was writing. It was at a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/scripts-were-rather-scarce-in-1968-we-did-a-lot-of-amiri-baraka-s/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [All you need in the world is love and laughter. That's all anybody needs. To have love in one hand and laughter in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/all-you-need-in-the-world-is-love-and-laughter-that-s-all-anybody/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [I ain't never found no place for me to fit. Seem like all I do is start over. It ain't nothing to find no…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/i-ain-t-never-found-no-place-for-me-to-fit-seem-like-all-i-do-is/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [I don't write for a particular audience. I work as an artist, and I think the audience of one, which is the self, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/i-don-t-write-for-a-particular-audience-i-work-as-an-artist-and-i/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [I dont write particularly to effect social change. I believe writing can do that, but thats not why I write.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/i-dont-write-particularly-to-effect-social-change-i-believe-writing/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [“Don't try and go through life worrying about if somebody like you or not. You best be making sure they doing right by you,”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/don-t-try-and-go-through-life-worrying-about-if-somebody-like-you-or/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) > [Suffice it to say, I'm not poor.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/suffice-it-to-say-i-m-not-poor/) [August Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) [Explore all 124 August Wilson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/) ## More America quotes > [The costs of the Bush-Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are now estimated to run as high as $4.4 trillion - a major victory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/noam-chomsky/the-costs-of-the-bush-obama-wars-in-iraq-and-afghanistan-are-now/) [Noam Chomsky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/noam-chomsky/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [Today, the world looks to America for leadership. And America looks to its Corps of Marines.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronald-reagan/today-the-world-looks-to-america-for-leadership-and-america-looks-to/) [Ronald Reagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronald-reagan/) > [The image of blacks usually is one of people who are suffering from hunger, unemployment, and poverty. The idea of them as agents and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/grace-lee-boggs/the-image-of-blacks-usually-is-one-of-people-who-are-suffering-from/) [Grace Lee Boggs](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/grace-lee-boggs/) > [ I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America. \[salutes\] ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-hicks/i-ll-smoke-i-ll-cough-i-ll-get-the-tumors-i-ll-die-deal-thank-you/) [Bill Hicks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-hicks/) > [America is a democracy and has no Hitler, but I am afraid for her future; there are hard times ahead for the American people,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/albert-einstein/america-is-a-democracy-and-has-no-hitler-but-i-am-afraid-for-her/) [Albert Einstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/albert-einstein/) > [I'm gonna bring America together.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/i-m-gonna-bring-america-together/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [In the nineteenth century some parts of the world were unexplored, but there was almost no restriction on travel.:; Up to 1914 you did…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-orwell/in-the-nineteenth-century-some-parts-of-the-world-were-unexplored-but/) [George Orwell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-orwell/) > [We need a system that serves our needs, not the needs of others. Remember, under a Trump administration it's called America first. Remember that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/donald-trump/we-need-a-system-that-serves-our-needs-not-the-needs-of-others/) [Donald Trump](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/donald-trump/) > [America, you're sending girls a mixed message. On one hand, you're saying to have positive body image and love who we are; on the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adora-svitak/america-you-re-sending-girls-a-mixed-message-on-one-hand-you-re/) [Adora Svitak](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adora-svitak/) > [You live overseas, you see these exotic places and you want to know about them. But, weirdly, it also made me homesick for all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ken-jennings/you-live-overseas-you-see-these-exotic-places-and-you-want-to-know/) [Ken Jennings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ken-jennings/) > [Freedom in every sense but primarily political sense, a rise in repression that stems from a repression of sexuality. It's AIDS, it's herpes, it's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-nicholson/freedom-in-every-sense-but-primarily-political-sense-a-rise-in/) [Jack Nicholson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-nicholson/) > [“In American terms, the accomplishment of Genghis Khan might be understood if the United States, instead of being created by a group of educated…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-weatherford/in-american-terms-the-accomplishment-of-genghis-khan-might-be/) [Jack Weatherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-weatherford/) [Browse all 20,382 America quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/america/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "There's no idea in the world that is not contained by black life. I could write forever about the black experience in America.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "August Wilson" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/there-s-no-idea-in-the-world-that-is-not-contained-by-black-life-i/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "America" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/there-s-no-idea-in-the-world-that-is-not-contained-by-black-life-i/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d7/august-wilson-3646_america_there-s-no-idea-in-the-world-that-is-not_266078.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d7/august-wilson-3646_america_there-s-no-idea-in-the-world-that-is-not_266078.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/1d7/august-wilson-3646_america_there-s-no-idea-in-the-world-that-is-not_266078.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“There's no idea in the world that is not contained by black life. I could write forever about the black…” — August Wilson", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "August Wilson", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/august-wilson/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "There's no idea in the world...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/there-s-no-idea-in-the-world-that-is-not-contained-by-black-life-i/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/august-wilson/there-s-no-idea-in-the-world-that-is-not-contained-by-black-life-i/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```