Quotessence
Home / Authors / Cornel West
Cornel West

Cornel West Quotes

Philosopher

Filter quotes by topic

AllPeopleBlackPoorThinkingKingsIfsWorldLutherTryingWayWhiteAmericaJusticeMeanNeedsFormKindTermHumansBarack

Famous Cornel West Quotes

“The authority of science promotes and encourages the activity of observing, comparing, measuring and ordering the physical characteristics of human bodies. Cartesian epistemology and classical ideals produced forms of rationality, scientificity and objectivity that, though efficacious in the quest for truth and knowledge, prohibited the intelligibility and legitimacy of black equality. In fact, to "think" such an idea was to be deemed irrational, barbaric or mad.”

ThinkingHumansIdeasFactsBodyFormBlackActivityAuthorityIdealsMadCompareCharacteristicsQuestsIrrationalRationalityHuman BodyObservingObjectivityMeasuringLegitimacyEpistemologyBarbaricTruth And Knowledge
Author:Cornel West
Create image

“Any great artist is wrestling with their sadness and loneliness, their fears, anxieties and securities, and they're transfiguring those into complicated forms of expression that affect our hearts, minds and souls and remind us of who we are as human beings, the fragility of our human status and the inevitability of death.”

MindHumansHeartSoulFormArtistHuman BeingsSadnessSecurityLonelinessExpressionAnxietyComplicatedWho We AreWrestlingGreat ArtGreat ArtistInevitabilityFragilityHeart Mind And SoulInevitability Of DeathSadness And Loneliness
Author:Cornel West
Create image

“I have some notions that have people conceiving of themselves as capable of changing the world. That's why, for me, the issues of self-love, self-respect and self-regard are preconditions for human agency and especially black agency, given the fact that we have been and are such a hated and despised people.”

PeopleWorldHumansHas BeensSelfFactsGivenBlackIssuesSelf LoveCapableRegardNotionHatedAgencyChanging The WorldSelf RespectDespisedConceiving
Author:Cornel West
Create image

“So much has to do with going beyond treating black people as cosmetic and symbolic items, as opposed to genuine personalities and human beings. And that is a deep moral and spiritual issue, which can of course be backed up by Civil Rights Commissions which enforce the laws against any form of discrimination.”

PeopleHumansSpiritualFormLawCoursesBlackHuman BeingsMoralIssuesRightsPersonalityGenuineDiscriminationCivil RightsBlack PeopleItemsSymbolicCosmetics
Author:Cornel West
Create image