When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.
Meaning of the quote
When we truly understand who we are as individuals, we can feel liberated and unlock our full potential. This quote suggests that self-discovery can lead to a sense of freedom and empowerment. By exploring our unique identities, talents, and values, we can break free from limitations and live authentically.
About Ralph Ellison
Ralph Ellison was an acclaimed American writer best known for his novel ‘Invisible Man.’ He also authored several collections of essays and had a posthumous novel published after his death. Ellison was highly regarded as one of the great literary figures of his time.
More quotes from Ralph Ellison
There must be possible a fiction which, leaving sociology and case histories to the scientists, can arrive at the truth about the human condition, here and now, with all the bright magic of the fairy tale.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
There are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
Education is all a matter of building bridges.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
The understanding of art depends finally upon one’s willingness to extend one’s humanity and one’s knowledge of human life.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
Had the price of looking been blindness, I would have looked.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
Some people are your relatives but others are your ancestors, and you choose the ones you want to have as ancestors. You create yourself out of those values.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
I am an invisible man. I am a man of substance, of flesh and bone, fiber and liquids – and I might even be said to possess a mind. I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
Hibernation is a covert preparation for a more overt action.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
If the word has the potency to revive and make us free, it has also the power to blind, imprison, and destroy.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
Eclecticism is the word. Like a jazz musician who creates his own style out of the styles around him, I play by ear.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time being ashamed.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
When I discover who I am, I’ll be free.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
America is woven of many strands. I would recognise them and let it so remain. Our fate is to become one, and yet many. This is not prophecy, but description.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
By and large, the critics and readers gave me an affirmed sense of my identity as a writer. You might know this within yourself, but to have it affirmed by others is of utmost importance. Writing is, after all, a form of communication.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
The end is in the beginning and lies far ahead.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)
Good fiction is made of that which is real, and reality is difficult to come by.
American novelist, literary critic, scholar and writer (1914-1994)