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Ralph Ellison Quotes

It takes a deep commitment to change and an even deeper commitment to grow Picture Quote #1

Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you? Picture Quote #1

There are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers Picture Quote #1

The end is in the beginning and lies far ahead Picture Quote #1

I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me Picture Quote #1

Education is all a matter of building bridges Picture Quote #1

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If the word has the potency to revive and make us free, it has also the power to blind, imprison, and destroy Picture Quote #1

The understanding of art depends finally upon one’s willingness to extend one’s humanity and one’s knowledge of human life Picture Quote #1

... the world is just as concrete, ornery, vile, and sublimely wonderful as before, only now I better understand my relation to it and it to me Picture Quote #1

Life is as the sea, art a ship in which man conquers life’s crushing formlessness, reducing it to a course, a series of swells, tides and wind currents inscribed on a chart Picture Quote #1

The antidote to hubris, to overweening pride, is irony, that capacity to discover and systematize ideas Picture Quote #1

The blues is an art of ambiguity, an assertion of the irrepressibly human over all circumstances, whether created by others or by one’s own human failing Picture Quote #1

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It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself Picture Quote #1

Man’s hope can paint a purple picture, can transform a soaring vulture into a noble eagle or moaning dove Picture Quote #1

I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything except me Picture Quote #1

By and large, the critics and readers gave me an affirmed sense of my identity as a writer. You might know this within yourself, but to have it affirmed by others is of utmost importance. Writing is, after all, a form of communication Picture Quote #1

Some people are your relatives but others are your ancestors, and you choose the ones you want to have as ancestors. You create yourself out of those values Picture Quote #1

America is woven of many strands. I would recognise them and let it so remain. Our fate is to become one, and yet many. This is not prophecy, but description Picture Quote #1

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Eclecticism is the word. Like a jazz musician who creates his own style out of the styles around him, I play by ear Picture Quote #1

Good fiction is made of that which is real, and reality is difficult to come by Picture Quote #1

I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time being ashamed Picture Quote #1

Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat Picture Quote #1

The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike Picture Quote #1

There must be possible a fiction which, leaving sociology and case histories to the scientists, can arrive at the truth about the human condition, here and now, with all the bright magic of the fairy tale Picture Quote #1

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I am one of the most irresponsible beings that ever lived. Irresponsibility is part of my invisibility; any way you face it, it is a denial. But to whom can I be responsible, and why should I be, when you refuse to see me? Picture Quote #1

What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do? Picture Quote #1

Having tried to give pattern to the chaos which lives within the pattern of your certainties, I must come out, I must emerge Picture Quote #1

It is sometimes advantageous to be unseen, although it is most often rather wearing on the nerves Picture Quote #1

And I knew that it was better to live out one’s absurdity than to die for that of others Picture Quote #1

Words are your business, boy. Not just the word. Words are everything. The key to the rock, the answer to the question Picture Quote #1

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Friendship Quotes

Motivational Quotes

Inspirational Quotes

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Text Quotes

It takes a deep commitment to change and an even deeper commitment to grow (Ralph Ellison Quotes) Who knows but that, on the lower frequencies, I speak for you? (Ralph Ellison Quotes) There are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers (Ralph Ellison Quotes) The end is in the beginning and lies far ahead (Ralph Ellison Quotes) I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me (Ralph Ellison Quotes) Education is all a matter of building bridges (Ralph Ellison Quotes) If the word has the potency to revive and make us free, it has also the power to blind, imprison, and destroy (Ralph Ellison Quotes) The understanding of art depends finally upon one’s willingness to extend one’s humanity and one’s knowledge of human life (Ralph Ellison Quotes) ... the world is just as concrete, ornery, vile, and sublimely wonderful as before, only now I better understand my relation to it and it to me (Ralph Ellison Quotes) Life is as the sea, art a ship in which man conquers life’s crushing formlessness, reducing it to a course, a series of swells, tides and wind currents inscribed on a chart (Ralph Ellison Quotes) The antidote to hubris, to overweening pride, is irony, that capacity to discover and systematize ideas (Ralph Ellison Quotes) The blues is an art of ambiguity, an assertion of the irrepressibly human over all circumstances, whether created by others or by one’s own human failing (Ralph Ellison Quotes) It took me a long time and much painful boomeranging of my expectations to achieve a realization everyone else appears to have been born with: That I am nobody but myself (Ralph Ellison Quotes) Man’s hope can paint a purple picture, can transform a soaring vulture into a noble eagle or moaning dove (Ralph Ellison Quotes) I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. Like the bodiless heads you see sometimes in circus sideshows, it is as though I have been surrounded by mirrors of hard, distorting glass. When they approach me they see only my surroundings, themselves or figments of their imagination, indeed, everything and anything except me (Ralph Ellison Quotes) By and large, the critics and readers gave me an affirmed sense of my identity as a writer. You might know this within yourself, but to have it affirmed by others is of utmost importance. Writing is, after all, a form of communication (Ralph Ellison Quotes) Some people are your relatives but others are your ancestors, and you choose the ones you want to have as ancestors. You create yourself out of those values (Ralph Ellison Quotes) America is woven of many strands. I would recognise them and let it so remain. Our fate is to become one, and yet many. This is not prophecy, but description (Ralph Ellison Quotes) Eclecticism is the word. Like a jazz musician who creates his own style out of the styles around him, I play by ear (Ralph Ellison Quotes) Good fiction is made of that which is real, and reality is difficult to come by (Ralph Ellison Quotes) I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time being ashamed (Ralph Ellison Quotes) Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat (Ralph Ellison Quotes) The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike (Ralph Ellison Quotes) There must be possible a fiction which, leaving sociology and case histories to the scientists, can arrive at the truth about the human condition, here and now, with all the bright magic of the fairy tale (Ralph Ellison Quotes) I am one of the most irresponsible beings that ever lived. Irresponsibility is part of my invisibility; any way you face it, it is a denial. But to whom can I be responsible, and why should I be, when you refuse to see me? (Ralph Ellison Quotes) What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do? (Ralph Ellison Quotes) Having tried to give pattern to the chaos which lives within the pattern of your certainties, I must come out, I must emerge (Ralph Ellison Quotes) It is sometimes advantageous to be unseen, although it is most often rather wearing on the nerves (Ralph Ellison Quotes) And I knew that it was better to live out one’s absurdity than to die for that of others (Ralph Ellison Quotes) Words are your business, boy. Not just the word. Words are everything. The key to the rock, the answer to the question (Ralph Ellison Quotes)

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