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Book: Shadow and Act
Quotes of Book: Shadow and Act
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  1. Ralph Ellison _ Shadow and Act

    As the advertising industry, which is dedicated to the creation of masks, makes clear, that which cannot gain authority from tradition may borrow it with a mask.
    book-quote

  2. Ralph Ellison _ Shadow and Act

    When American life is most American it is apt to be most theatrical.
    book-quoteracism

  3. Ralph Ellison _ Shadow and Act

    When we finally achieve the full right of participation in American life, what we make of it will depend upon our sense of cultural values, and our creative use of freedom, not upon our racial identification. I see no reason why the heritage of world culture-which represents a continuum-should be confused with the notion of race. Japan erected a highly efficient modern technology upon a religious culture which viewed the Emperor as a god. The Germany which produced Beethoven and Hegel and Mann turned its science and technology to the monstrous task of genocide; one hopes that when what are known as the "Negro" societies are in full possession of the world's knowledge and in control of their destinies, they will bring to an end all those savageries which for centuries have been committed in the name of race. From what we are now witnessing in certain parts of the world today, however, there is no guarantee that simply being non-white offers any guarantee of this. The demands of state policy are apt to be more influential than morality. I would like to see a qualified Negro as President of the United States. But I suspect that even if this were today possible, the necessities of the office would shape his actions far more than his racial identity.
    book-quoteidentitygovernance

  4. Ralph Ellison _ Shadow and Act

    At best Americans give but a limited attention to history. Too much happens too rapidly, and before we can evaluate it, or exhaust its meaning or pleasure, there is something new to concern us. Ours is the tempo of the motion picture, not that of the still camera, and we waste experience as we wasted the forest.
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  5. Ralph Ellison _ Shadow and Act

    We look too much to museums. The sun coming up in the morning is enough.
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