If he looked into her face, he would see those haunted, loving eyes. The hauntedness would irritate him - the love would move him to fury. How dare she love him? Hadn't she any sense at all? What was he supposed to do about that? Return it? How? What could his calloused hands produce to make her smile? What of his knowledge of the world and of life could be useful to her? What could his heavy arms and befuddled brain accomplish that would earn him his own respect, that would in turn allow him to accept her love?
Toni MorrisonWhen a child walks in the room, your child or anybody elseโs child, do your eyes light up? Thatโs what theyโre looking for.
Toni MorrisonIt was a fine cry - loud and long - but it had no bottom and it had no top, just circles and circles of sorrow.
Toni MorrisonA sister can be seen as someone who is both ourselves and very much not ourselves - a special kind of double.
Toni MorrisonI really want some meaning. It used to be easy to toss it off. Now it's harder and harder. You have to navigate just to find something that has nourishment. It's the absence of nourishment. What do you do in place of nourishment? It's usually junk. Either it's junk food or junk clothes or junk ideas.
Toni MorrisonDid you ever see the way the clouds love a mountain? They circle all around it; sometimes you can't even see the mountain for the clouds. But you know what? ... The clouds never cover the head. His head pokes through, because the clouds let him; they don't wrap him up. They let him keep his head high, free.
Toni Morrison