Image Credits: John Matthew Smith, Wikimedia Commons
Toni Morrison was a remarkable woman who through her writings left us with gems to inspire and challenge us. In this post, you will find over 15 amazing quotes from Toni Morrison on different aspects of life.
Drawn from her various writings, you can expect these Toni Morrison Quotes to challenge you, educate you and inspire you in equal measure. Read on!
The Remarkable Life and Writings of Toni Morrison
Toni whose original name is Chloe Anthony Wofford was born on February 18, 1931, in Lorain Ohio. She died at the Bronx New York, on Monday, August 5, 2019, at the age of 88 years old. Toni Morrison changed her name while attending Howard University because people struggled to pronounce her birth name, Chloe.
Ms. Morrison was best known for her work as an author/novelist who examined black experience within the black community. In reporting her death, the New York Times referred to her as the “towering novelist of the black experience“.
In 1993, she was the first African American woman to win a Nobel Prize for literature. Ms. Morrison’s writings are not only limited to novels, she has also written children’s books and essays.
Related:20 Best Parenting Advice Quotes for Raising Happy Confident Kids
Some of Toni Morrison’s most notable works include:
- The Bluest Eye (1969)
- Sula (1973)
- Song of Solomon (1977), it won the National Book Critics Circle Award for fiction,
- Tar Baby (1981),
- Dreaming Emmett, a play (1985)
- Beloved (1987), which received the Pulitzer in 1988. In 2006, it was named the “best work of American fiction published in the previous 25 years” by the New York Times Book Review poll.
- Jazz (1992)
- Playing in the Dark: Whiteness and the Literary Imagination (1992)
- Paradise (1997)
- A Mercy (2009)
- What Moves at the Margin (2008).
Toni Morrison has published many more writings and about her work she said:
“Everything I’ve ever done, in the writing world, has been to expand articulation, rather than to close it, to open doors, sometimes, not even closing the book—leaving the endings open for reinterpretation, revisitation, a little ambiguity.”
Toni Morrison
17 Inspiring Quotes from Toni Morrison
When studying Toni Morrison’s work, ranging from interviews, her essays, speeches, and books, you realize that there is so much wisdom to be gleaned. And there is no shortage of quotable quotes, the compilation of inspirational quotes from Toni Morrison is just a tip of the iceberg.
You would do yourself a favor to get yourself one of her books but for now, I hope these quotes light up a fire in you to become more – more of the woman, the mother, the human that you want to become.
Let’s dive in.
Toni Morrison Quotes on Freedom
On Language, Writing, and life:
As someone who loves both reading and writing, I am deeply inspired by this quote. It was a sweet surprise for me to learn that Luvvie, an author that I admire and whose books I love, was inspired by this quote to write her first book which went on to be a bestseller.
On Love and Life:
Insights On Anger
On Success
Toni Morrison’s greatest lesson
What is your favorite Toni Morrison quote?
How has she inspired you? Please leave a comment below and let us celebrate the literary icon she was.
My favorite Toni Morrison quotes:
” The function of freedom is to free somebody else.”
and “There is no time for despair, no place for self-pity, no need for silence, no room for fear.”