Cornel West
A public intellectual and academic known for his work on race, religion, and social justice, often engaging in critical social commentary.
Quotes by Cornel West
To be a jazz artist is to be a person who is constantly experimenting, constantly pushing the boundaries.
The love of freedom is the love of humanity.
To be a public intellectual is to be a person who is willing to speak truth to power, even when it's unpopular.
The blues is a form of spiritual resistance.
To be a Christian is to be a person who is willing to suffer for the sake of justice.
The love of God is the love of justice, and the love of justice is the love of humanity.
To be a serious scholar is to be a person who is willing to challenge their own assumptions.
The quest for love is a quest for justice.
To be a blues singer is to be a storyteller, a griot, a keeper of the flame.
The love of humanity is the love of freedom, and the love of freedom is the love of truth.
To be a public intellectual is to be a person who is willing to be unpopular for the sake of truth.
The country needs and, unless I mistake its temper, the world needs, but we Black Americans need more than all other people, a righteously angry, loving, wise, compassionate, grace-filled, justice-oriented, hope-inspiring, future-regarding, clear-sighted, transcendentally grounded, transcendentally grounded, transcendentally grounded, transcendentally grounded, transcendentally grounded.
Empathy is not simply a matter of trying to see the other person's point of view. No, empathy is seeing with the eyes of another, listening with the ears of another, and feeling with the heart of another.
We must talk about the unspeakable: the legacy of white supremacy in America.
Hope is what keeps us going in the face of despair.
The blues is an impulse to keep the painful details and episodes of a brutal experience alive in one's aching consciousness.
Democracy is a political method, that is to say, a way of ruling people.
Love is the power to give and the courage to receive.
In the American way, we have a penchant for turning tragedy into entertainment.
The indispensable first step to getting the things you want out of life is this: Decide what you want.