Life is to be lived, not controlled, and humanity is won by continuing to play in face of certain defeat.
Ralph EllisonRead
I remember that I'm invisible and walk softly so as not awake the sleeping ones. Sometimes it is best not to awaken them; there are few things in the world as dangerous as sleepwalkers.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote suggests that it is sometimes wiser to stay unnoticed and avoid disturbing people who may be unaware of their surroundings.
Ralph Ellison's quote emphasizes the importance of being aware of the potential dangers that can arise from confronting those who are oblivious or in a state of ignorance. In a metaphorical sense, 'sleepwalkers' represent individuals or situations that might cause harm if disturbed. It highlights a profound wisdom in choosing when to engage and when to let things be, implying that some states of ignorance are preferable to confronting unsettling truths.
Themes
WisdomAwarenessIgnoranceDangerSleepwalkers
In practice
Example use cases
During a team meeting, when discussing sensitive topics, you might use this quote to suggest that it's better to let some issues be if they don't directly impact your work.
More from Ralph Ellison
All quotes →I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me.
Ralph EllisonRead
I denounce because though implicated and partially responsible, I have been hurt to the point of abysmal pain, hurt to the point of invisibility. And I defend because in spite of it all, I find that I love.
Ralph EllisonRead
The blues is an art of ambiguity, an assertion of the irrepressibly human over all circumstance whether created by others or by one's own human failings. They are the only consistent art in the United States which constantly remind us of our limitations while encouraging us to see how far we can actually go. When understood in their more profound implication, they are a corrective, an attempt to draw a line upon man's own limitless assertion.
Ralph EllisonRead
If you can show me how I can cling to that which is real to me, while teaching me a way into the larger society, then and only then will I drop my defenses and hostility, and I will sing your praises and help you to make the desert bear fruit.
Ralph EllisonRead
All novels are about certain minorities: the individual is a minority. The universal in the novel-and isn't that what we're all clamoring for these days?-is reached only through the depiction of the specific man in a specific circumstance.
Ralph EllisonRead
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