237 Quotes by Ralph Ellison

Now I know men are different and that all life is divided and that only in division is there true health.

We mean to do right by you, but you’ve got to know your place at all times.

Play the game, but play it your own way – part of the time at least. Play the game, but raise the ante, my boy. Learn how it operates, learn how you operate.

Boy on a Train From.

Toata viata am cautat ceva si, oriunde m-as fi indreptat, cineva incerca sa-mi spuna ce este acel ceva. Am acceptat raspunsurile fiecaruia, desi erau deseori contradictorii unele fata de altele sau chiar fata de ele insele. Am fost naiv. Ma cautam pe mine insumi si intrebam pe oricine, mai putin pe mine, intrebari la care eu, si numai eu, puteam gasi raspunsul.

His name was Clifton and he was black and they shot him. Isn’t that enough to tell? Isn’t it all you need to know?

But we are all human, I thought, wondering what I meant.

Would you like to resurrect God to take responsibility?” He shook his head. “No, Brother, we have to make such decisions ourselves.

Only men who are not only corrupt but whose corruption has frozen over and hardened can confess the things they do and still accept positions of leadership. They are dead men and unless they’re controlled by public opinion and every other available force, they’re as dangerous as Nazis. More so, because they still speak in the name of the only possible future. I.