Today, the world has suffered a great loss. Toni Morrison, a literary icon and one of the most decorated Black authors of all time, has passed away at age 88.
Through her classic novels like Beloved, Sula, Song Of Solomon and The Bluest Eye, Morrison has used her profound gift of language and storytelling to beautifully convey the power of Black love. The complexities of relationships were always so beautifully written through Morrison’s works. We’ll forever cherish her for not only the stories she gave the world, but the love gems that unfolded from them.
In celebration of her life and legacy, scroll through the gallery for Toni Morrison’s best love quotes.
01
“You’re turning over your whole life to him. Your whole life, girl. And if it means so little to you that you can just give it away, hand it to him, then why should it mean any more to him? He can’t value you more than you value yourself.”
– Song of Solomon
02
“You do not deserve love regardless of the suffering you have endured. You do not deserve love because somebody did you wrong. You do not deserve love just because you want it. You can only earn – by practice and careful contemplations – the right to express it and you have to learn how to accept it.”
– Paradise
03
“Love is or it ain’t. Thin love ain’t love at all.”
– Beloved
04
“Love is never any better than the lover.”
– The Bluest Eye
05
“Could you really love somebody who was absolutely nobody without you? You really want somebody like that? Somebody who falls apart when you walk out the door? You don’t, do you? And neither does he. You’re turning over your whole life to him. Your whole life, girl. And if it means so little to you that you can just give it away, hand it to him, then why should it mean any more to him?”
– Song of Solomon
06
“Whatever happens, whether you get rich or stay poor, ruin your health or live to old age, you always end up back where you started: hungry for the one thing everybody loses — young loving.”
– Jazz
07
“You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down.”
– Song of Solomon
08
“Freeing yourself was one thing; claiming ownership of that freed self was another.”
– Beloved
09
“Love is divine only and difficult always. If you think it is easy you are a fool. If you think it is natural you are blind.”
– Paradise
10
“You are your best thing.”
– Beloved
