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

Ralph Ellison Literature See all quotes by Ralph Ellison →

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

“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.”

“...the end is in the beginning and lies far ahead.”

Resonant Thoughts

"Constantly regard the universe as one living being, having one substance and one soul; and observe how all things have reference to one perception, the perception of this one living being; and how all…"

— Marcus Aurelius

Philosophy

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"In my life, there are two things I've found I'm very good at: overcoming obstacles and motivating good people to do their best work."

— Donald Trump

Politics1945

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"I never became a believer. I had a natural predisposition toward skepticism. If you can’t measure it, it isn’t there. That included not only Old Whiskers and His Only Begotten Son, but all the other m…"

— Robert Silverberg

Literature1935

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"Inanimate objects are sometimes parties in litigation. A ship has a legal personality, a fiction found useful for maritime purposes. The corporation sole – a creature of ecclesiastical law – is an acc…"

— William O. Douglas

Law1898–1980

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