"...there are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers."

Ralph Ellison Literature See all quotes by Ralph Ellison →

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More by Ralph Ellison

“Closed societies are now the flimsiest of illusions, for all the outsiders are demanding in.”

“And I knew that it was better to live out one's own absurdity than to die for that of others.”

“And the mind that has conceived a plan of living must never lose sight of the chaos against which that pattern was conceived. That goes for societies as well as for individuals.”

“Let's not play these kids cheap; let's find out what they have that is a strength. What do they have that you can approach and build a bridge upon? Education is all a matter of building bridges, it seems to me.”

“Articles on Ellison at The New York Times”

“The clock ticked with empty urgency, as though trying to catch up with the time. In the street a siren howled.”

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"I have a crazy quirk, Eugene. I like to say what I think. And if you're gonna work for the Jews, you can no longer say what you think. You can't say the holocaust never happened, for example. That is …"

— Bobby Fischer

Literature1943–2008

#mind

"Water cannot extinguish the Fire that will purify the world,Nor wash away the rivers of blood.By new scourges will the world be purged of its evil.I expound happiness.I shall designate the path for th…"

— Masters of Wisdom (Theosophy)

#Philosophy

"I was born undisciplined. Never, even as a child, could I be made to obey a set rule. What little I know I learned at home. School was always like a prison to me, I could never bring myself to stay th…"

— Claude Monet

Art1840–1926

#time

"Excuse me, you have binoculars in the second row . . . and there're zoom . . . What exactly were you looking at there? . . . Very cute . . . Well, get your money's worth, honey."

— Gloria Estefan

Music1957

#money