Toni Morrison’s third “Song of Solomon” was published Song of Solomon in 1977. This Nobel follows the life of “Milkman” Dead III. Flight and freedom are major themes in this novel. Song of Solomon won the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction in 1978. American punk rock band (The Dead Milkmen) was inspired by Song of Solomon’s main character. Here Quotesgeeks listed 48 Toni Morrison Song of Solomon quotes to understand this fiction easily!
Facts about Toni Morrison:
- Born on February 18, 1931, Lorain, Ohio, United States.
- Toni Morrison is the first African-American woman to win a Nobel Prize.
- At the age of 12, Morrison changed her name from Chloe to Toni.
- Toni published her first book at the age of 39.
- After publishing one year Toni’s novel “Beloved” won Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1988.
- The first Black editors at Random House
- Divorced in 1964, she never remarried.
- Died on August 5, 2019, from complications of pneumonia.
Major characters of Song of Solomon (novel)
- Milkman Dead: The protagonist of “Song of Solomon” and also known as Macon Dead III.
- Pilate Dead: Fearless mother of Reba.
- Macon Jr.: Milkman’s father and also known as Macon Dead II.
- Guitar Bains: Best friend of Macon Dead III
- Hagar: Milkman’s lover.
- Macon Dead I: Milkman’s grandfather and also known as Jake
- Ruth Foster Dead: Mother of Milkman.
- Reba: Hagar’s mother
- Dr. Foster
- First Corinthians Dead
- Magdalene Dead
- Michael-Mary Graham
- Circe
- Sing
- Henry Porter
- Robert Smith
- Freddie
- Ryna
- Sweet
Top 48 Toni Morrison Song of Solomon Quotes
01.
“Oh, sure. You have to know what’s wrong before you can find what’s right.”
― Toni Morrison
02.
“If you surrendered to the air, you could ride it.”
― Toni Morrison
03.
“Maybe all he was really saying was: I am not responsible for your pain; share your happiness with me but not your unhappiness.“
― Toni Morrison
04.
“O Solomon don’t leave me here.”
― Toni Morrison
05.
“Jumping from the roof of Mercy was the most interesting thing he had done.”
― Toni Morrison
06.
“The decision he would make would be extremely important but the way he made the decision would be careless, haphazard, and uniformed.”
― Toni Morrison
07.
“What are you? Some kinda mermaid?” one man had shouted, and reached hurriedly for his socks.”
― Toni Morrison
08.
“She had been husbanding her own misery, shaping it, making of it an art and a Way.“
― Toni Morrison
09.
“You stupid, man. Real stupid. Ain’t no law for no colored man except the one sends him to the chair,” said Guitar.”
― Toni Morrison
10.
“She loved nothing in the world except this woman’s son, wanted him alive more than anybody, but hadn’t the least bit of control over the predator that lived inside her. Totally taken over by her anaconda love, she had no self left, no fears, no wants, no intelligence that was her own.“
— Toni Morrison
11.
“Well, now. That’s something you will have – a broken heart.” Railroad Tommy’s eyes softened, but the merriment in them died suddenly. “And folly. A whole lot of folly. You can count on it.“
— Toni Morrison
12.
“Every nigger I know wants to be cool. There’s nothing wrong with controlling yourself, but can’t nobody control other people.”
― Toni Morrison
13.
“But the music, which he hoped would coat his nerve ends, only splayed them.”
― Toni Morrison
14.
“I wish I’d a knowed more people. I would of loved ’em all. If I’d a knowed more, I would a loved more.”
― Toni Morrison
15.
“I loved the geography part. Learning about that made me want to read.”
― Toni Morrison
16.
“Dominion won by fear and secured by fear was still sweeter than any that could be got another way.”
― Toni Morrison
17.
“How old are you, Freddie?” “Who knows? They made dirt in the morning and me that afternoon.”
― Toni Morrison
18.
“Own things. And let the things you own other things.”
― Toni Morrison
19.
“Boredom, which had begun as a mild infection, now took him over completely.”
― Toni Morrison
20.
“All this she saw in their eyes, and the sight filled her own with water warmer and much older than the rain.”
― Toni Morrison
21.
“As long as your feet are under my table, you’ll do in this house what you are told.”
― Toni Morrison
22.
“She tackled the problem of trying to decide how she wanted to live and what was valuable to her. When am I happy and when am I sad and what is the difference? What do I need to know to stay alive? What is true in the world?”
― Toni Morrison
23.
“He wondered if there was anyone in the world who liked him. Liked him for himself alone.”
― Toni Morrison
24.
“A little bird’ll be here with the morning.” “Oh?” said the rose-petal lady. “Tomorrow morning?” “That’s the only morning coming.” “It can’t be,” the rose-petal lady said. “It’s too soon.” “No it ain’t. Right on time.”
― Toni Morrison
25.
“That’s something you will have- a broken heart.”
― Toni Morrison
26.
“You got a life? Live it! Live the motherfuckin’ life!”
― Toni Morrison
27.
“Thank God I ain’t never had one of them graveyard loves.”
― Toni Morrison
28.
“Too much tail. All that jewelry weighs it down. Like vanity. Can’t nobody fly with all that shit. Wanna fly, you gotta give up the shit that weighs you down.”
― Toni Morrison
29.
“She was fierce in the presence of death, heroic even, as she was at no other time. Its threat gave her direction, clarity, audacity.”
― Toni Morrison
30.
“There are no innocent white people, because every one of them is a potential nigger-killer, if not an actual one.”
― Toni Morrison
31.
“You got a life? Live it! Live the motherfuckin life!”
― Toni Morrison
32.
“Without wiping away the tears, taking a deep breath, or even bending his knees—he leaped. For now he knew what Shalimar knew: If you surrendered to the wind, you could ride it.”
― Toni Morrison
33.
“You already alone. If you want more alone, I can knock you into the middle of next week, and leave you there.”
― Toni Morrison
34.
“From the beginning, his mother and Pilate had fought for his life, and he had never so much as made either of them a cup of tea.”
― Toni Morrison
35.
“You have pissed your last in this house . . . and I don’t make velvet roses anymore.”
― Toni Morrison
36.
“Everything bad that ever happened to him happened because he couldn’t read.”
― Toni Morrison
37.
“Well, if a man don’t HAVE a chance, then he has to TAKE a chance!”
― Toni Morrison
38.
“The disappointment he felt in his daughters sifted down on them like ash, dulling their buttery complexions and choking the lilt out of what should have been girlish voices.”
― Toni Morrison
39.
“Don’t nobody have to die if they don’t want to. – Pilate”
― Toni Morrison
40.
“In a way she was jealous of death.”
― Toni Morrison
41.
“For a long time now he knew that anything could appear to b something else, and probably was.”
― Toni Morrison
42.
“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”
― Toni Morrison
43.
“Perhaps that’s what all human relationships boil down to: Would you save my life? or would you take it?”
― Toni Morrison
44.
“Her passions were narrow but deep.”
― Toni Morrison
45.
“He can’t value you more than you value yourself.”
― Toni Morrison
46.
“The human body is robust. It can gather strength when it’s in mortal danger.”
― Toni Morrison
47.
“Bryn Mawr had done what a four-year dose of liberal education was designed to do: unfit her for eighty percent of the useful work of the world.”
― Toni Morrison
48.
“It was becoming a habit-this concentration on things behind him. Almost as though there were no future to be had. *Milkman*”
― Toni Morrison
Top 5 Toni Morrison Books for Children:
- The Big Box (1999)
- The Book of Mean People (2002)
- Who’s Got Game? The Ant or the Grasshopper?, The Lion or the Mouse?, Poppy or the Snake? (2007)
- Peeny Butter Fudge (2009)
- Please, Louise (2014)
FAQs Related to Toni Morrison Song of Solomon Quotes:
#1. What is the theme of Song of Solomon?
Ans: The central theme of Song of Solomon is ‘Searching for identity.
#2. Why does Guitar want to kill milkman?
Ans: Guitar wants to murder Milkman because he believes that Milkman has cheated him.
#3. Who gets milkman and guitar out of jail?
Ans: Pilate gets milkman and guitar out of jail.
#4. Who is the antagonist in Song of Solomon?
Ans: Macon Jr. also known as Macon Dead II is the antagonist in Song of Solomon.
What do you think after reading Toni Morrison’s song of Solomon quotes?
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