At best Americans give but a limited attention to history. Too much happens too rapidly, and before we can evaluate it, or exhaust its meaning or pleasure, there is something new to concern us. Ours is the tempo of the motion picture, not that of the still camera, and we waste experience as we wasted the forest.
Ralph EllisonLife is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.
Ralph EllisonGod is love, I said, but art's the possibility of forms, and shadows are the source of identity.
Ralph EllisonWe don't all dig Shakespeare uniformly, or even 'Little Red Riding Hood.' The understanding of art depends finally upon one's willingness to extend one's humanity and one's knowledge of human life.
Ralph Ellison