Toni Morrison won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1993. The Swedish Academy cited her novels “characterized by visionary force and poetic import.” Her quotations — drawn from interviews, essays, and commencement addresses — share that density. They do not simplify. They ask the reader to sit with complexity.
On the Purpose of Writing
Morrison spoke directly about what she expected from literature. In a 1981 interview with Thomas LeClair in The New Republic, she said: “If you have some idea about the elevation of racist language, the only effective antidote is to work against it, to expose it, to deprive it of its power.” Her novels—Beloved, Song of Solomon, Sula—enact that principle: they name what comfortable language prefers to avoid.
The Commencement Address Tradition
Morrison’s 2004 commencement address at Wellesley College produced one of her most quoted lines: “I tell my students, ‘When you get these jobs that you have been so brilliantly trained for, just remember that your real job is that if you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else.’”
The line circulates widely, usually shortened. The full passage matters: she was speaking to graduates about privilege and responsibility, not offering a generic inspirational message.
On Racism and Language
- “Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence.” — From her Nobel Lecture, December 7, 1993. This line is frequently quoted in discussions of hate speech and rhetoric.
- “If you can only be tall because somebody is on their knees, then you have a serious problem.” — Often cited but the exact original source is harder to pin down; it circulates widely in attributed form.
Reading Morrison in Full
Her 1975 Portland State University address, sometimes called “Black Studies Center Public Dialogue,” contains an early, extended meditation on the function of racism — more nuanced than any excerpt conveys. Morrison argued that racism serves the psychological and economic interests of those who maintain it, not merely their hatred.
The best way to engage with Morrison’s quotations is to read the source. Her arguments always have more structure than a pulled sentence reveals.