"Many of the rites of passage, those rituals……" — Ralph Ellison
"Many of the rites of passage, those rituals of growing up found in our society, are in the form of such comic, practical joking affairs--which we ignore in the belief that they possess no deeper significance. Yet it is precisely in their being regarded as unimportant that they take on importance. For in them we ritualize and dramatize attitudes which contradict and often embarrass the sacred values which we proclaim through our solemn ceremonies and rituals of nationhood."
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Ralph Ellison
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83 Quotes by Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison has 83 quotes on this site.
A few more worth reading:
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Our task, then always, is to challenge the apparent forms of reality-that is, the fixed manner and values of the…
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It takes a deep commitment to change and an even deeper commitment to grow.
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Without involvement, there is no commitment. Mark it down, asterisk it, circle it, underline it." Stephen Covey "It takes a…
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Commercial rock 'n' roll music is a brutalization of the stream of contemporary Negro church music an obscene looting of…
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The blues is an art of ambiguity, an assertion of the irrepressibly human over all circumstance whether created by others…
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I suspect that all the agony that goes into writing is borne precisely because the writer longs for acceptance-but it…
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If the word has the potency to revive and make us free, it has also the power to bind, imprison…
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America is woven of many strands; I would recognize them and let it so remain. It's 'winner take nothing' that…
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And while the ice was melting to form a flood in which I threatened to drown I awoke one afternoon…
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I denounce because though implicated and partially responsible, I have been hurt to the point of abysmal pain, hurt to…
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We don't all dig Shakespeare uniformly, or even 'Little Red Riding Hood.' The understanding of art depends finally upon one's…
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I am one of the most irresponsible beings that ever lived. Irresponsibility is part of my invisibility; any way you…
See all 83 quotes by Ralph Ellison »
More Affair Quotes
This quote is filed under Affair Quotes,
one of 1,281 quotes in that category. Here are a few more:
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The more dubious and uncertain an instrument violence has become in international relations, the more it has gained in reputation…
— Hannah Arendt
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The proportion between the velocity with which men or animals move, and the weights they carry, is a matter of…
— Charles Babbage
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The humanitarian would, of course, have us meddle in foreign affairs as part of his program of world service.
— Irving Babbitt
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Great love affairs start with Champagne and end with tisane.
— HonorÈ De Balzac
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I wanted to be a neurologist. That seemed to be the most difficult, most intriguing, and the most important aspect…
— Roger Bannister
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Do not measure your loss by itself; if you do, it will seem intolerable; but if you will take all…
— Saint Basil
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Happiness includes chiefly the idea of satisfaction after full honest effort. No one can possibly be satisfied and no one…
— Arnold Bennett
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I started my music career at 18 and for a long while I let other people handle my affairs.
— Sophie Ellis Bextor
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Future. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and our happiness is assured.
— Ambrose Bierce
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Politics: A strife of interests masquerading as a contest of principles. The conduct of public affairs for private advantage.
— Ambrose Bierce
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A total abstainer is one who abstains from everything but abstention, and especially from inactivity in the affairs of others.
— Ambrose Bierce
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Alas for the affairs of men! When they are fortunate you might compare them to a shadow; and if they…
— Aeschylus
See all 1,281 Affair Quotes »
