There in the center of that silence was not eternity but the death of time and a loneliness so profound the word itself had no meaning.
Toni MorrisonI always looked upon the acts of racist exclusion, or insult, as pitiable, from the other person. I never absorbed that. I always thought that there was something deficient about such people.
Toni MorrisonBooks ARE a form of political action. Books are knowledge. Books are reflection. Books change your mind.
Toni MorrisonThe Nobel Prize is the best thing that can happen to a writer in terms of how it affects your contracts, the publishers, and the seriousness with which your work is taken. On the other hand, it does interfere with your private life, or it can if you let it, and it has zero effect on the writing. It doesn't help you write better and if you let it, it will intimidate you about future projects.
Toni Morrison