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Quote by Zora Neale Hurston

Work

Their Eyes Were Watching God

This novel follows the life of Janie Crawford, a woman who seeks independence and self-fulfillment in a society that limits her options. It delves into themes of identity, love, and the search for personal freedom. more

Author

Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) was an American anthropologist, folklorist, and novelist who played a pivotal role in the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Alabama and raised in Eatonville, Florida, she became the first African American student at Barnard College, Columbia University, studying under Franz Boas. Hurston is best known for her novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God," now considered a classic of American literature. She conducted extensive anthropological fieldwork in the American South and Caribbean, preserving African American folk traditions. Though largely forgotten after her death, her work was revived by Alice Walker in the 1970s, establishing her as a foundational figure in African American literature and anthropology. more

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“No, that nurse ain't some kinda monster chicken, buddy, what she is is a ball-cutter. I've seen a thousand of 'em, old and young, men and women. Seen 'em all over the country and in the homes- people who try to make you weak so they can get you to toe the line, to follow their rules, to live like they want you to. And the best way to do this, to get you to knuckle under, is to weaken you by gettin' you where it hurts the worst.”

“In every part and corner of our life, to lose oneself is to be a gainer; to forget oneself is to be happy.”

“There was a danger whenever I was on home ground. It was the danger of seeing my life through other eyes than my own. Seeing it as an ever-increasing roll of words like barbed wire, intricate, bewildering, uncomforting—set against the rich productions, the food, flowers, and knitted garments, of other women’s domesticity. It became harder to say that it was worth the trouble.”