American - Author | March 1, 1914 - April 16, 1994
Education is all a matter of building bridges.
Ralph Ellison
EducationBuildingBridgesMatter
Eclecticism is the word. Like a jazz musician who creates his own style out of the styles around him, I play by ear.
StylePlayJazzHimOutOwn
I am an invisible man. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids - and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
ManI AmPeopleMindMeUnderstand
Good fiction is made of that which is real, and reality is difficult to come by.
GoodRealityDifficultRealFiction
There must be possible a fiction which, leaving sociology and case histories to the scientists, can arrive at the truth about the human condition, here and now, with all the bright magic of the fairy tale.
TruthFairy TaleMagicNowPossible
When I discover who I am, I'll be free.
I AmFreeWhoDiscoverAm
Some people are your relatives but others are your ancestors, and you choose the ones you want to have as ancestors. You create yourself out of those values.
RelationshipYourselfPeopleChoose
I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time being ashamed.
TimeMyselfI AmGrandparentsSlaves
Hibernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action.
PreparationActionMoreCovert
Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.
LifeFaceHumanityDefeatPlayWon
By and large, the critics and readers gave me an affirmed sense of my identity as a writer. You might know this within yourself, but to have it affirmed by others is of utmost importance. Writing is, after all, a form of communication.
CommunicationYourselfIdentityMe
The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike.
TimePastShadowWritingBackAct
Copyright © 2024 QuotesDict Ralph Ellison quotes