"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? And wait until I reveal how truly irresponsible I am. Responsibility rests upon recognition, and recognition is a form of agreement."
React to this quote
More by Ralph Ellison
See allResonant Thoughts
"This is a strange -- and rather alarming -- realisation. For it clearly implies that masturbation is one of our highest faculties that human beings have developed. Many animals masturbate -- but never…"
Explore Further
Related Quotes
"It seems that it was the Jews who had entered the who are primarily responsible for the terroristic measure…"
— Georges Sorel"The art of war consists in being always able, even with an inferior army, to have stronger forces than the …"
— Napoleon I of France"Lincoln was not eloquent in the usual 19th century way, certainly not in the romantic way. He was not a man…"
— Allen C. Guelzo"Reason is like an open secret that can become known to anyone at any time; it is the quiet space into which…"
— Karl Jaspers"It is quite likely that it is possible, yes. But what we've said all along -- speaking for both the Institu…"
— Ian Wilmut"Philosophy is explicitness, generality, orientation and assessment. That which one would insinuate, thereof…"
— Ernest Gellner
Related Thinkers
Related Topics
Deep Dives
- Stephen King on philosophy
- Robert A. Heinlein on philosophy
- Ernest Hemingway on philosophy
- Mark Twain on philosophy
- George Bernard Shaw on philosophy
- Virginia Woolf on Philosophy
- Anton Chekhov on philosophy
- Ursula K. Le Guin on philosophy
- Stephen King on life
- Stephen King on time
- knowledge & Beauty
- knowledge & Change