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

Ralph Ellison Literature See all quotes by Ralph Ellison →

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“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.”

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

Resonant Thoughts

"The most effective way to distort reality is to deny it; if we tell ourselves there isn't a problem, then we never have to worry about what to do about it. And the most effective way to deny a reality…"

— Melanie Joy

Literature1966

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"It is when the commercial factor enters into the situation that the possibility of genuine individual liberty arises."

— Celia Green

Psychology1935

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"Resignation as to knowledge of the world is for me not an irretrievable plunge into a scepticism which leaves us to drift about in life like a derelict vessel. I see in it that effort of honesty which…"

— Albert Schweitzer

Philosophy1921–2023

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