500 Quotes by Cornel West

The capitalist culture of consumption... does not provide meaningful sustenance for large numbers of people.

Our politicians have sacrificed their principles on the altar of special interests; our corporate leaders have sacrificed their integrity on the altar of profits; and our media watchdogs have sacrificed the voice of dissent on the altar of audience competition.

Affirmative action is something that I think is very crucial and necessary.

No community dictates to any individual how to live their lives. You can criticize and you can push but people freely choose.

Optimism is evidence-based.

So more and more black folk tend to be well-adjusted to [Barack] Obama's presidency, but does that mean they're well-adjusted to injustice? Because we don't hear our president talking about the new Jim Crow, the prison-industrial complex.

confining life to an eternal present is an insidious form of soul murder

When ordinary people wake up, elites begin to tremble in their boots.

I'm praying for Barack Obama to stay on the tightrope because I want to fight his right-wing critics. I want to down I want to ensure they don't lie about him. I'm sure they don't demonize him, and too much of that is going on. So I don't want my critiques to be in any way confused with the right-wing critiques, even though I'll fight for the right wing to be wrong in that regard.