Quotessence
Home / Authors / Bell Hooks
Bell Hooks

Bell Hooks Quotes

Author

Filter quotes by topic

AllFeminismLoveThinkingMenPeopleWayBlackIfsFeministWorldDominationKnowsPatriarchyWhiteBell HooksClassSelfWantCultureStruggle

Famous Bell Hooks Quotes

“In an ideal world we would all learn in childhood to love ourselves. We would grow, being secure in our worth and value, spreading love wherever we went, letting our light shine. If we did not learn self-love in our youth, there is still hope. The light of love is always in us, no matter how cold the flame. It is always present, waiting for the spark to ignite, waiting for the heart to awaken and call us back to the first memory of being the life force inside a dark place waiting to be born - waiting to see the light.”

IfsWorldFirstsHeartStillsSelfMatterLightValuesForceGrowsWaitingBornMemoriesDarkLove IsChildhoodYouthColdSelf LoveIdealsShiningSecureFlamesSparksIgniteDark PlacesIdeal WorldLight Of LoveSpreading Love
Author:Bell Hooks
Create image

“Within the new self-help books for women, patriarachy and male domination are rarely identified as forces that lead to the oppression, exploitation, and domination of women. Instead, these books suggest that individual relationships between men and women can be changed solely by women making the right choices.”

MenBookSelfHelpingChoicesIndividualForcePsychologySelf HelpChangedMen And WomenMalesOppressionExploitationDominationRight ChoicesSelf Help BooksHelp BookNew Self
Book:Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black
Create image

“Any woman who wishes to be an intellectual, to write non-fiction, to deal with theory, faces a lot of discrimination coming her way and perhaps even self-doubt because there aren't that many who've gone before you. And I think that the most powerful tool we can have is to be clear about our intent. To know what it is we want to do rather than going into institutions thinking that the institution is going to frame for us.”

ThinkingKnowsWayWantWritingSelfFacesWishDealsPowerfulFictionGoneClearDoubtTheoryIntellectualToolsInstitutionsDiscriminationMost PowerfulNon FictionSelf-doubt
Author:Bell Hooks
Create image

“In order for me to engage in a revolutionary struggle for collective Black self-determination, I have to engage feminism because that becomes the vehicle by which I project myself as a female into the heart of the struggle, but the heart of the struggle does not begin with feminism. It begins with an understanding of domination and with a critique of domination in all its forms.”

HeartDoeSelfFormOrderUnderstandingBlackStruggleFeminismProjectsFemaleDeterminationRevolutionaryCollectivesSelf DeterminationVehicleDominationCritique
Author:Bell Hooks
Create image

“To be changed by ideas was pure pleasure. But to learn ideas that ran counter to values and beliefs learned at home was to place oneself at risk, to enter the danger zone. Home was the place where I was forced to conform to someone else’s image of who and what I should be. School was the place where I could forget that self and, through ideas, reinvent myself.”

ShouldIdeasSelfHomeSchoolValuesBeliefForgetPleasureRiskDangerChangedPureOneselfRanZoneConform
Author:Bell Hooks
Create image

“Relationships are treated like Dixie cups. They are the same. They are disposable. If it does not work, drop it, throw it away, get another. Committed bonds (including marriage) cannot last when this is the prevailing logic. Most of us are unclear about what to do to protect and strengthen caring bonds when our self-centered needs are not being met.”

IfsNeedsDoeSelfLastsMetsProtectLogicIncludingCommittedCaringTreatedCupsSelf CenteredPrevailingDisposableUnclearDixie
Author:Bell Hooks
Create image

“The first act of violence that patriarchy demands of males is not violence toward women. Instead patriarchy demands of all males that they engage in acts of psychic self-mutilation, that they kill off the emotional parts of themselves. If an individual is not successful in emotionally crippling himself, he can count on patriarchal men to enact rituals of power that will assault his self-esteem.”

IfsMenFirstsSelfIndividualSuccessfulViolenceSelf EsteemEmotionalDemandMalesEsteemRitualPatriarchyAssaultPsychicsActs Of ViolenceMutilationSelf Mutilation
Book:The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love
Create image

“Feminist effort to end patriarchal domination should be of primary concern precisely because it insists on the eradication of exploitation and oppression in the family context and in all other intimate relationships. It is that political movement which most radically addresses the person – the personal – citing the need for the transformation of self, of relationships, so that we might be better able to act in a revolutionary manner, challenging and resisting domination, transforming the world outside the self.”

WorldNeedsShouldPersonsEndsSelfMightAblePoliticalChallengesEffortMovementConcernTransformationFeministOppressionPrimariesRevolutionaryIntimateAddressesExploitationDominationTransformingResistingCitingIntimate RelationshipsPolitical MovementsTransforming The World
Book:Talking Back: Thinking Feminist, Thinking Black
Create image

“All efforts at self-transformation challenge us to engage in on-going, critical self-examination and reflection about feminist practice, and about how we live in the world. This individual commitment, when coupled with engagement in collective discussion, provides a space for critical feedback which strengthens our efforts to change and make ourselves anew.”

WorldSelfIndividualChallengesSpaceEffortPracticeReflectionCommitmentTransformationFeministCriticalDiscussionCollectivesEngagementFeedbackExaminationSelf TransformationSelf-examination
Author:Bell Hooks
Create image

“Women are often belittled for trying to resurrect these men and bring them back to life and to love. They are in a world that would be even more alienated and violent if caring women did not do the work of teaching men who have lost touch with themselves how to love again. This labor of love is futile only when the men in question refuse to awaken, refuse growth. At this point it is a gesture of self-love for women to break their commitment and move on.”

IfsMenWorldTryingSelfWould BeMovingLostGrowthLove IsBreakTeachingHe ManSelf LoveCommitmentLaborRefuseCaringViolentGesturesHow To LoveLove AgainLabor Of Love
Author:Bell Hooks
Create image