Their words

“Oppressive language does more than represent violence; it is violence; does more than represent the limits of knowledge; it limits knowledge.”

Source: Nobel Lecture, Stockholm, 7 December 1993

Context In her Nobel lecture, Morrison used the fable of a blind wise woman and a bird held by visitors to argue that language can oppress as well as free.

Portrait of Toni Morrison
Toni MorrisonUnited States · 1931–2019
Read their story →

Pick the card background

Share on X WhatsApp All quotes

More words from Toni Morrison

More words from Culture & Ideas