Quotessence
Home / Authors / Claudia Rankine
Claudia Rankine

Claudia Rankine Quotes

Poet

Filter quotes by topic

AllThinkingMomentsPeopleWayIfsBlackRacismWantAfrican AmericansBlacksBodyKnowsPersonsLanguagePastFeelsPoemConditionsFeelingsKind

Famous Claudia Rankine Quotes

“We are invested in being together. In having friends. In joining our lives. And yet these are the people who also fail you. And when they fail you in these ways, it signals a larger understanding about who you are as a black person in the world. It's not just a little failure for me. Its something exposed.”

PeopleWorldWayLittlesPersonsTogetherUnderstandingBlackOur LivesFailingWho You AreExposedSignalsJoiningBeing TogetherBlack Person
Author:Claudia Rankine
Create image

“Intimacy is important in my work because I don't understand existence without intimacy. All of us are dependent on other people - and in ways we don't know. You cross the street and assume that person isn't crazy, they don't want to mow me down with their car. I don't know that person but I am already in a relationship with them. I am asking them to abide by the traffic laws. If they decided not to, I'd be dead. Even in those anonymous ways, we're in relationships.”

PeopleIfsKnowsWayWantPersonsImportantLawExistenceCrazyStreetsCarCrossesDecidedAskingAssumingIntimacyDependentTraffic
Author:Claudia Rankine
Create image

“My tendency is to want to say to the person, "Do you understand why I feel this way?" I usually do say that. And sometimes it doesn't go well. By this I mean we hit an impasse again. Not that I need to hear exactly what I want to hear, but I need to know I am heard. Those moments make for a better friendship. But I can't let it go. For good or bad.”

KnowsWayWantNeedsFeelsWellsMeanPersonsI CanSometimesMomentsHeardTendenciesLet It GoImpasse
Author:Claudia Rankine
Create image