100+ Best Quotes from Black Authors, Black Characters from Famous Books

Last updated: November 2025 | Reading time: 18 minutes | 100+ quotes from 40+ authors

From Maya Angelou's wisdom on resilience to James Baldwin's searing observations on race, Black authors have given us some of literature's most powerful and quotable moments. Whether you're looking for inspiration, seeking to understand different perspectives, or simply love beautiful writing, these quotes will move you.

This collection features 100+ carefully curated quotes from: 

• Classic authors (Maya Angelou, Toni Morrison, James Baldwin)- 
• Contemporary voices (Ta-Nehisi Coates, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Angie Thomas) 
• Essential books (Beloved, Between the World and Me, The Hate U Give) 
• Diverse themes (identity, justice, love, resilience, freedom)

Perfect for book lovers, students, educators, social media sharing, Black History Month, or anyone who appreciates profound words from brilliant minds.

Inspiring Quotes About Life & Identity

These quotes explore the journey of finding yourself, understanding your place in the world, and embracing your authentic story.

1. “We tell people to follow their dreams, but you can only dream of what you can imagine, and, depending on where you come from, your imagination can be quite limited.”― Trevor Noah, Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
   
2. “The first thing I learned about having money was that it gives you choices. People don’t want to be rich. They want to be able to choose. The richer you are, the more choices you have. That is the freedom of money.”― Trevor Noah, Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
3. “Now I think it’s one of the most useless questions an adult can ask a child—What do you want to be when you grow up? As if growing up is finite. As if at some point you become something and that’s the end.” ― Michelle Obama, Becoming
   

1. “Your story is what you have, what you will always have. It is something to own.” ― Michelle Obama, Becoming
2. “Hearing them, I realized that they weren’t at all smarter than the rest of us. They were simply emboldened, floating on an ancient tide of superiority, buoyed by the fact that history had never told them anything different.”― Michelle Obama, Becoming
3. “I was made for the library, not the classroom. The classroom was a jail of other people’s interests. The library was open, unending, free.”― Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
4. “I always thought insanity would be a dark, bitter feeling, but it is drenching and delicious if you really roll around in it.”― Kathryn Stockett, The Help
5. “Anger is better. There is a sense of being in anger. A reality and presence. An awareness of worth. It is a lovely surging.”― Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
6. “Certain seeds it will not nurture, certain fruit it will not bear and when the land kills of its own volition, we acquiesce and say the victim had no right to live”― Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye
7. “You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view... Until you climb inside of his skin and walk around in it.”― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
8. “I don't need you to be mad that it happened. I need you to be mad that it just like... happens.”― Kiley Reid, Such a Fun Age
9. “People think pleasing God is all God care about. But any fool living in the world can see it always trying to please us back.”― Alice Walker, The Color Purple

1. "Time moves slowly, but passes quickly.”― Alice Walker, The Color Purple
2. “I teach you to be warriors in the garden so you will never be gardeners in the war.”― Tomi Adeyemi, Children of Blood and Bone
3. “Courage does not always roar. Valor does not always shine.”― Tomi Adeyemi, Children of Blood and Bone
4. “Gods are nothing without fools to believe in them.”― Tomi Adeyemi, Children of Blood and Bone
5. “He began to have a dim feeling that, to attain his place in the world, he must be himself, and not another.”
   ― W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk
6. “One of the most terrible, most mysterious things about a life is that a warning can be heeded only in retrospect: too late.”― James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk
7. “We must believe in our souls that we are somebody, that we are significant, that we are worthful, and we must walk the streets of life every day with this sense of dignity and this sense of somebody-ness.”― Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boy
8. “What and how much had I lost by trying to do only what was expected of me instead of what I myself had wished to do?”― Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
9. “Life is to be lived, not controlled; and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.”― Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man
   

Powerful observations on racism, inequality, and the Black experience in America from voices that refuse to be silenced.

1. “But race is the child of racism, not the father. And the process of naming “the people” has never been a matter of genealogy and physiognomy so much as one of hierarchy. Difference in hue and hair is old. But the belief in the preeminence of hue and hair, the notion that these factors can correctly organize a society and that they signify deeper attributes, which are indelible—this is the new idea at the heart of these new people who have been brought up hopelessly, tragically, deceitfully, to believe that they are white.”― Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
2. “Black people love their children with a kind of obsession. You are all we have, and you come to us endangered.”― Ta-Nehisi Coates, Between the World and Me
3. “In the dark, you could never be too black. In the dark, everyone was the same color.”― Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half
4. “I think there's just one kind of folks. Folks.”― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
5. “As you grow older, you’ll see white men cheat black men every day of your life, but let me tell you something and don’t you forget it—whenever a white man does that to a black man, no matter who he is, how rich he is, or how fine a family he comes from, that white man is trash”― Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird
6. “Or that when white people compliment her (“She’s so professional. She’s always on time”), it doesn’t always feel good, because sometimes people are gonna be surprised by the fact that she showed up, rather than the fact that she had something to say when she did.”― Kiley Reid, Such a Fun Age

1. “Language, even more than color, defines who you are to people.”― Trevor Noah, Born a Crime: Stories From a South African Childhood
2. “We read the Bible how we want to read it. It doesn't change, but we do.”― Yaa Gyasi, Transcendent Kingdom
3. “You want to know what weakness is? Weakness is treating someone as though they belong to you. Strength is knowing that everyone belongs to themselves.”― Yaa Gyasi, Homegoing
4. “You cannot stick a knife in a goat and then say, "now I will remove my knife slowly - so let things be easy and clean; let there be no mess." There will always be blood.”― Yaa Gyasi, Homegoing
5. “He licked his lips. ‘Well, if you want my opinion-‘‘I don’t, ‘ She said. ‘I have my own.” ― Toni Morrison, Beloved

1. “Definitions belong to the definers, not the defined.”― Toni Morrison, Beloved
2. “The Black female is assaulted in her tender years by all those common forces of nature at the same time that she is caught in the tripartite crossfire of masculine prejudice, white illogical hate and Black lack of power. ― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing
3. “If someone puts their hands on you make sure they never put their hands on anybody else again.”
   ― Malcom X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X
4. “Slavery is a sin when whites were put to the yoke, but not the African. All men are created equal, unless we decide you are not a man.” ― Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad
5. “The whites came to this land for a fresh start and to escape the tyranny of their masters, just as the freemen had fled theirs. But the ideals they held up for themselves, they denied others.”― Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad
6. “Those kids aren't dumb. But the people who run these schools want to make sure they don't get smart: they are really teaching the kids to be slaves.”― James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk
7. “Black people are apparently responsible for calming the fears of violent cops in the way women are supposedly responsible for calming the sexual desires of male rapists.”― Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist
8. “Caste is insidious and therefore powerful because it is not hatred, it is not necessarily personal. It is the worn grooves of comforting routines and unthinking expectations, patterns of a social order that have been in place for so long that it looks like the natural order of things.”― Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
9. “The price of privilege is the moral duty to act when one sees another person treated unfairly. And the least that a person in the dominant caste can do is not make the pain any worse.”― Isabel Wilkerson, Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
10. “Even when you just subtly imply that a white person is racist—especially a white man—they think it’s the biggest slap in the face ever. They’d rather be called anything other than a racist. They’re ready to fight you on it, tooth and nail.”― Zakiya Dalila Harris, The Other Black Girl
    

Words of strength, courage, and determination that inspire action and perseverance.

1. “Freeing yourself was one thing, claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”
   ― Toni Morrison, Beloved 
2. “We mistook violence for passion, indolence for leisure, and thought recklessness was freedom.”― Toni Morrison, The Bluest Eye

1. “Words mean more than what is set down on paper. It takes the human voice to infuse them with shades of deeper meaning.”
   ― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
2. “Anything that works against you can also work for you once you understand the Principle of Reverse.”
   ― Maya Angelou, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
3. “You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”
   ― Toni Morrison, Song of Solomon
4. “Why any woman give a shit what people think is a mystery to me.”― Alice Walker, The Color Purple
5. “Repressive societies always seemed to understand the danger of "wrong" ideas.”― Octavia E. Butler, Kindred
6. “I never realized how easily people could be trained to accept slavery.”
   ― Octavia E. Butler, Kindred
7. “Slavery was a long slow process of dulling.”
   ― Octavia E. Butler, Kindred
8. “There are people in the world for whom "coming along" is a perpetual process, people who are destined never to arrive.”
   ― James Baldwin, Go Tell It on the Mountain
9. “In all things purely social we can be as separate as the five fingers, and yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.” -W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of Black Folk
10. “You don’t have a home until you leave it and then, when you have left it, you never can go back.”
    ― James Baldwin, Giovanni's Room
11. “The world may be mean, but people don't have to be, not if they refuse.” ― Colson Whitehead, The Underground Railroad
12. “So early in my life, I had learned that if you want something, you had better make some noise.”― Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm
13. “The masters could not bring water to boil, harness to horse or strap their own drawers without us. We were better than them. We had to be. Sloth was literal death for us, while for them it was the whole ambition of their lives.”― Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Water Dancer
    

Short, punchy lines that pack a blow. 

1. “Grief never ends, but we find a way to walk in the light someone has left behind.” ― Caleb Azumah Nelson, Small world
2. “We know death in its multitudes, but we’re all very serious about being alive.”― Caleb Azumah Nelson, Small Worlds
3. “Language always has to be so exact and I never know exactly how I feel.”― Caleb Azumah Nelson, Small Worlds
4. “All I'm saying is, kindness don't have no boundaries.”― Kathryn Stockett, The Help
5. “Write about what disturbs you, particularly if it bothers no one else.”― Kathryn Stockett, The Help
6. “The ability to read awoke inside of me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive.”― Malcolm X, The Autobiography of Malcolm X

1. “What's the point of having a voice if you're gonna be silent in those moments you shouldn't be?”― Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
2. “Brave doesn't mean you're not scared. It means you go on even though you're scared.”― Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give
3. “I can't change where I come from or what I've been through, so why should I be ashamed of what makes me, me?”― Angie Thomas, The Hate U Give

1. “Neither love nor terror makes one blind: indifference makes one blind.”― James Baldwin, If Beale Street Could Talk
2. “Much of life is timing and circumstance, I see that now.”― Tayari Jones, An American Marriage
3. “One is the left shoe and the other is the right. They are the same but not interchangeable.”― Tayari Jones, An American Marriage
4. You can change the law but you can’t change people and how they treat each other.”― Colson Whitehead, The Nickel Boys
5. “What difference is there in the color of the soul?”― Solomon Northup, 12 Years A Slave
6. “Life is dear to every living thing; the worm that crawls upon the ground will struggle for it.”― Solomon Northup, Twelve Years a Slave
7. “Really, it was difficult to determine which I had most reason to fear—dogs, alligators or men!”― Solomon Northup, 12 Years a Slave
8. “Careful you go looking for something, you just might find it.”― Deesha Philyaw, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
   
9. “I'm annoyed by those who love mankind but are discourteous to people.”― John Howard Griffin, Black Like Me
10. “Enthusiasm makes up for a host of deficiencies.”― Barack Obama, A Promised Land
    

Humans cannot live without friends or family, and the following words convey this bond filled with pain and tragedy. 

1. “Her death hit in waves. Not a flood, but water lapping steadily at her ankles. You could drown in two inches of water. Maybe grief was the same.”― Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half

1. “People thought that being one of a kind made you special. No, it just made you lonely. What was special was belonging with someone else.”― Brit Bennett, The Vanishing Half
2. “If I've thought of my mother as callous, and many times I have, then it is important to remember what a callus is: the hardened tissue that forms over a wound.”― Yaa Gyasi, Transcendent Kingdom
3.  “Nothing teaches you the true nature of your friendships like a sudden death, worse still, a death that’s shrouded in shame.”― Yaa gyasi, Transcendent Kingdom
4. “The family is like the forest: if you are outside it is dense; if you are inside you see that each tree has its own position.”― Yaa Gyasi, Homegoing
5. “But home isn't where you land; home is where you launch. You can't pick your home any more than you can choose your family. In poker, you get five cards. Three of them you can swap out, but two are yours to keep: family and native land.”― Tayari Jones, An American Marriage
6. “It’s a cruel thing to do to children, to raise them as though they are siblings, and then set them against each other so that one shall be queen and the other shall be a footstool.”― Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Water Dancer
7. “Even Einstein wasn’t an atheist,” he says. “He talked about God all the time. Now, he didn’t believe in a god that was concerned with human behavior, which is the church’s obsession and the reason it uses guilt and shame to enforce Christianity.”― Deesha Philyaw, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies
8. “There’s an old saying: mothers raise their daughters and love their sons.”― Deesha Philyaw, The Secret Lives of Church Ladies

1. “When feminism falls short of our expectations, we decide the problem is with feminism rather than with the flawed people who act in the name of the movement.”― Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist: Essays
2. “Abandon the cultural myth that all female friendships must be bitchy, toxic, or competitive. This myth is like heels and purses--pretty but designed to SLOW women down.”― Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist
3. “Some women being empowered does not prove the patriarchy is dead. It proves that some of us are lucky.”― Roxane Gay, Bad Feminist
4. “When you gone to get married? You need to have some babies. It’ll settle you.''I don’t want to make somebody else. I want to make myself.”― Toni Morrison, Sula
5. “I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.”― Martin Luther King Jr., The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.
6. “Men can starve from a lack of self-realization as much as they can from a lack of bread.”― Richard Wright, Native Son.
7. Violence is a personal necessity for the oppressed...It is not a strategy consciously devised. It is the deep, instinctive expression of a human being denied individuality.”― Richard Wright, Native Son

1. “There was no peace in slavery, for every day under the rule of another is a day of war.”― Ta-Nehisi Coates, The Water Dancer
2. “That’s the problem with history, we like to think it’s a book—that we can turn the page and move the fuck on. But history isn’t the paper it’s printed on. It’s memory, and memory is time, emotions, and song. History is the things that stay with you.”― Paul Beatty, The Sellout
3. “It’s illegal to yell ‘Fire!’ in a crowded theater, right?” “It is.” “Well, I’ve whispered ‘Racism’ in a post-racial world.”― Paul Beatty, The Sellout

1. “Racism should never have happened, and so you don't get a cookie for reducing it.”― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah
2. “Race doesn't really exist for you because it has never been a barrier. Black folks don't have that choice.”― Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Americanah
3. “The white man is very clever. He came quietly and peaceably with his religion. We were amused at his foolishness and allowed him to stay. Now he has won our brothers, and our clan can no longer act like one. He has put a knife on the things that held us together and we have fallen apart.”― Chinua Achebe, Things Fall Apart
4. “Each of us is more than the worst thing we’ve ever done.”― Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
5. “The death penalty is not about whether people deserve to die for the crimes they commit. The real question of capital punishment in this country is, Do we deserve to kill?”― Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

1. “The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.”― Bryan Stevenson, Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption
2. “What mattered such little things when the very foundation of civilization, white supremacy, was threatened?”― George S. Schuyler, Black No More