Colson Whitehead Quotes

Powerful Colson Whitehead for Daily Growth

About Colson Whitehead

Colson Whitehead is an acclaimed American novelist, renowned for his profound and evocative storytelling that explores themes of race, identity, and the human condition. Born on November 21, 1969, in New York City to a psychologist mother and surgeon father, Whitehead grew up in Manhattan's Upper West Side. His early life was filled with visits to libraries and museums, experiences that significantly influenced his intellectual development and love for storytelling. Whitehead attended Harvard University, where he studied English literature and creative writing. After graduating in 1991, he worked as a writer and editor for magazines such as The New Yorker, Harper's, and Entertainment Weekly before publishing his debut novel, "The Intuitionist," in 1999. This novel, set in a fictional elevator inspection service, delves into race, technology, and the complexities of personal perception. In 2001, Whitehead published "John Henry Days," a sprawling epic that weaves together elements from American folklore, popular culture, and modern-day society. The novel received critical acclaim but was less commercially successful than his subsequent works. His breakout success came with "The Underground Railroad" in 2016, a masterful work that reimagines the Underground Railroad as a literal network of subterranean tracks and stations, helping slaves escape to freedom. The novel won the National Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Whitehead's most recent work, "Harlem Shuffle" (2021), is a return to the world of real estate and corruption depicted in his debut, this time set in 1960s Harlem. Throughout his career, Whitehead has been recognized for his literary prowess, receiving numerous awards, including two Pulitzer Prize finalists, and has established himself as one of America's most important contemporary authors.

Interpretations of Popular Quotes

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes."

This quote emphasizes that while history may not exactly replicate events, there are recurring patterns, themes, or situations that can be likened to a poetic "rhyme" in our past. Understanding these similarities and parallels is crucial for gaining insights about the present and future. It encourages us to learn from historical contexts rather than blindly repeating them.

"Freedom is a luxury that can be afforded only by those who have the means to protect it."

This quote suggests that while freedom is an essential human right, its enjoyment is often contingent upon one's ability to safeguard it. In other words, those with greater resources (financial, social, political, etc.) are more likely to be able to protect their freedom from external threats or encroachment. This implies a stark reality where wealth and power can provide a buffer against the infringement of personal liberty, thereby reinforcing the idea that freedom is not universally accessible, especially for those who lack these means.

"The greatest power we have is the power to choose."

The quote underscores the fundamental freedom and agency that human beings possess: the power to choose. It emphasizes that our ability to make choices defines us, shapes our destiny, and gives us the potential to control our lives and our outcomes. It's a reminder of the importance of mindful decision-making and personal responsibility in shaping one's own story and future.

"The road to freedom was paved with the ashes of the burned cities."

This quote by Colson Whitehead emphasizes that progress towards freedom often involves pain, destruction, and loss, symbolized by the "ashes" of burned cities. It suggests that achieving freedom may require significant sacrifices and hardships, but ultimately, those struggles pave the way for a brighter future.

"Every man bonded to another's fate, every woman pledged to a companion's destiny, every soul shackled to its fellow's fortunes; it is only the unyoked mind that can find a way out of this labyrinth."

This quote by Colson Whitehead highlights the interconnectedness of human beings, emphasizing our shared destinies as individuals bound together in society. He suggests that every person's life is intricately linked to those around them, creating a complex web or labyrinth. However, he also implies that true freedom and escape from this social maze can only be achieved by having an independent, self-governing mindset, which allows one to break free from societal constraints and forge their unique path.

I was allowed to write about race using an elevator metaphor because of Toni Morrison and David Bradley and Ralph Ellison. Hopefully, me being weird allows someone who's 16 and wanting to write inspires them to have their own weird take on the world, and they can see the different kinds of African American voices being published.

- Colson Whitehead

Own, Wanting, Allowed, African American

I like to know how I'm supposed to feel about things. Just a little clue or hint.

- Colson Whitehead

Feel, Like, About, Clue

A lot of early Misfits song titles are inspired by old B-movies, which were my Popeye's spinach when I was a kid.

- Colson Whitehead

Song, Misfits, Which, Spinach

I take inspiration from books, movies, television, music - it all goes in the hopper. Depending on the project, I'm drawing from this or that piece of art that has stayed with me. Toni Morrison, George Romero, Sonic Youth - they are all in there.

- Colson Whitehead

Youth, Project, Inspiration, Sonic

I love getting out of the Q train at Union Square. It's such a mix of people, like a party. There's always an errand you can do along there, whether it's picking up contacts or buying poker chips.

- Colson Whitehead

Love, Chips, Out, Errand

I didn't know I was a zombie pedant until I started considering what from the zombie canon to keep in 'Zone One' and what to ignore.

- Colson Whitehead

Zone, Started, Considering, Canon

Part of being in New York is being able to brag about what used to be there.

- Colson Whitehead

New York, New, Part, Brag

I've always thought the Nat Turner story to be very interesting.

- Colson Whitehead

Thought, Always, Very, Turner

I'm not a representative of blackness, and I'm not a healer.

- Colson Whitehead

Blackness, Representative, Healer

'Zone One' has one kind of an apocalypse, and 'The Underground Railroad' another. In both cases, the narrators are animated by a hope in a better place of refuge - in the last surviving human outpost, Up North. Does it exist? They can only believe.

- Colson Whitehead

Believe, Another, North, Animated

I knew that a zombie book would not particularly appeal to some of my previous readers, but it was artistically compelling, and being able to do a short nonfiction book about poker was really fun and great.

- Colson Whitehead

Some, Particularly, Previous, Nonfiction

I write at home. I like to be able to take a nap, watch TV, make a sandwich, and if I wake up and don't feel like working, I'm not going to bang my head on my desk all day: I'll go out and do something else.

- Colson Whitehead

TV, I Write, Something Else, Nap

In the 1930s, the government paid writers to interview 80- and 90-year-old former slaves, and I read those accounts. I came away realizing - not surprisingly - that many slave masters were sadists who spent a lot of time thinking up creative ways of hurting people.

- Colson Whitehead

Away, 1930s, Masters, Surprisingly

Usually, when I write a novel, it takes me about 100 pages to figure out the voice of the narrator.

- Colson Whitehead

Voice, I Write, Figure, Narrator

I usually have two or three ideas floating around. When I have free time, the one I end up thinking most about is the one I end up pursuing.

- Colson Whitehead

Ideas, About, Pursuing, Floating

In '82 and '83, that was the rise of the VCR. Every Friday, my brother and I would go to Crazy Eddie's - which was a video store in Manhattan - and rent five horror movies. And that's basically what we did, basically, for three years. Becoming social misfits.

- Colson Whitehead

Rent, Becoming, Video, Friday

In 'John Henry Days,' I was taking my idea of junketeering and sort of blowing it up to absurd extremes.

- Colson Whitehead

Idea, Sort, Extremes, Blowing

Zombies are a great rhetorical prop to talk about people and paranoia, and they are a good vehicle for my misanthropy.

- Colson Whitehead

Great, About, Rhetorical, Paranoia

I was inspired to become a writer by horror movies and science fiction.

- Colson Whitehead

Movies, Fiction, Horror, Science Fiction

People don't like it when you compare the miracle of childbirth to writing a book, but I think there is some overlap in the two because they are both pure agony.

- Colson Whitehead

Think, Some, Compare, Overlap

Growing up as a product of the black civil-rights movement, I had a lot of different models for black weirdness, whether it's Richard Pryor or James Baldwin or Jimmy Walker.

- Colson Whitehead

Product, Richard, Models, Walker

Stephen King in general, as well as films of the apocalypse from the '70s, had a big influence on 'Zone One.'

- Colson Whitehead

King, Big, Films, Big Influence

I was always into comic books and horror stories and a huge consumer of pop culture. And then I worked for awhile for 'The Village Voice'.

- Colson Whitehead

Voice, Always, Comic Books, Consumer

I always try to mix it up with each book - changing tone, changing style keeps the work very vital for me.

- Colson Whitehead

Tone, Always, Very, Mix

Growing up devouring horror comics and novels, and being inspired to become a writer because of horror novels, movies, and comic books, I always knew I was going to write a horror novel.

- Colson Whitehead

Always, Horror, Comic Books, Novels

In America, when you hear about the Underground Railroad, it's so evocative. You think it's a literal subway for a few minutes before your teacher goes on and describes where it actually was.

- Colson Whitehead

Think, Railroad, Before, Literal

Being a slave meant never having the stability of knowing your family would be together as many years as God designed it to be. It meant you could come back from picking cotton in a field to find that your children are gone, your husband's gone, your mother's gone.

- Colson Whitehead

Husband, Back, Cotton, Stability

You can raze the old buildings and erect magnificent corporate towers, hose down Port Authority, but you can't change people.

- Colson Whitehead

Change, Old, Magnificent, Towers

Slavery was a violent, brutal, immoral system, and in accurately depicting how it worked, you have to include that, obviously. Or else you are lying.

- Colson Whitehead

Violent, Include, Brutal, Depicting

Part of any book is establishing the rules at the end of the world. My first book, 'The Intuitionist,' takes place in an alternative world where elevator inspectors are important, so you have to establish rules, and part of that is, How do people talk? How do they behave?

- Colson Whitehead

Book, Part, Establishing, Establish

Anytime an African-American writes an unconventional novel, the writer gets compared to Ellison. But that's O.K. I am working in the African-American literary tradition. That's my aim and what I see as my mission.

- Colson Whitehead

Aim, Literary, Anytime, Unconventional

It's always hard to write and get your words out there, to find an editor, a publisher - readers! - who are going to appreciate them.

- Colson Whitehead

Always, Going, Editor, Publisher

I live in Brooklyn. I moved here 14 years ago for the cheap rent. It was a little embarrassing because I was raised in Manhattan, and so I was a bit of a snob about the other boroughs.

- Colson Whitehead

Here, Other, Moved, Snob

I was 7 years old when 'Roots' was first broadcast, and my parents gathered all us kids around the TV to learn about how we got here. But it wasn't until I sat down and immersed myself in the research that I got the barest inkling of what it meant to be a slave.

- Colson Whitehead

Here, TV, Broadcast, Meant To Be

In fifth grade, we did 10 minutes on slavery and 40 minutes on Abraham Lincoln, and in 10th grade you might do 10 minutes on the civil rights era and 40 minutes on Martin Luther King, and that's it.

- Colson Whitehead

King, Minutes, Martin Luther, None

I was sort of a miserable teenager.

- Colson Whitehead

Miserable, Sort, Teenager

For me, the terror of the zombie is that at any moment, your friend, your family, you neighbor, your teacher, the guy at the bodega down the street, can be revealed as the monster they've always been.

- Colson Whitehead

Always, Been, Terror, Revealed

I started writing in the '90s, so I was free to just have an eccentric career and not conform to some idea of what a black writer has to do. I didn't have the burden of representation.

- Colson Whitehead

Career, Some, Idea, Eccentric

I think a joke is a form of truth-telling. A good joke that's absurd contains elements of our daily darkness and also a possibility to escape that darkness. So, for me, humor is an attempt to capture everyday tragedy and everyday hopeful moments that we experience all of the time.

- Colson Whitehead

Experience, I Think, Hopeful, Possibility

I get invited to do panels with other Brooklyn writers to discuss what it's like to be a writer in Brooklyn. I expect it's like writing in Manhattan, but there aren't as many tourists walking very slowly in front of you when you step out for coffee. It's like writing in Paris, but there are fewer people speaking French.

- Colson Whitehead

Other, Very, Fewer, Discuss

Once I got to college, it seemed that the Hamptons were a little bit too posh for me and didn't represent the kind of values I was embracing in my late teens. So, I didn't go out there, except to visit my parents, for a long time. And then, after 9/11, I discovered it was a nice, mellow place to hang out.

- Colson Whitehead

College, Discovered, Mellow, Embracing

I like to explore different ideas of race, how the concept of race has evolved in the country. It's one thing I enjoy talking about, but I don't feel compelled to talk about it.

- Colson Whitehead

Explore, Country, Race, Different Ideas

If the world's nations can set aside their petty bickering over religion, politics, and territory, certainly I can 'get that Olympic Spirit' and rise above my prejudices.

- Colson Whitehead

Politics, Over, Certainly, Petty

I like questions that tee me up to make weird jokes, frankly.

- Colson Whitehead

Weird, Like, Frankly, Jokes

Some people don't like my fiction, because they prefer the nonfiction. But moving around keeps the work fresh for me and, hopefully, for my one or two readers who follow me from book to book!

- Colson Whitehead

Some, Fiction, Prefer, Fresh

Having a wife and kids drove home the brutal reality of the slave system for me - the price it exacted on families. On the other hand, whenever I despair over our history, I am brought back to hope, the hope that things will get better, for my children.

- Colson Whitehead

Back, Other, Brought, Despair

I try to have each book be an antidote to the one before.

- Colson Whitehead

Book, Try, Before, Antidote

The terror of figuring out a new genre, of telling a new story, is what makes the job exciting, keeps me from getting bored, and I assume it keeps whoever follows my work from getting bored as well.

- Colson Whitehead

New, Telling, Terror, Assume

I try to keep each different book different from the last. So 'Sag Harbor' is very different from 'Apex Hides the Hurt;' 'The Intuitionist,' which is kind of a detective novel, is very different from 'John Henry Days.' I'm just trying to keep things rich for me creatively and for the readers who follow me.

- Colson Whitehead

Book, Harbor, Very, Hides

If you go to a big publishing house, editorial aside, it's completely white.

- Colson Whitehead

Big, Editorial, Aside, Publishing House

The readership for 'Sag Harbor' was different from people who'd read me before - it was linear and realistic, not as strange as 'The Intuitionist.' Did they carry over to 'Zone One,' a story about zombies in New York? Some, some not. I'm used to people not caring about my other books.

- Colson Whitehead

Some, Other, Before, Not Caring

I don't generally follow sports. At an early age, I discovered that nature had apportioned me only a small reserve of enthusiasm. Best to ration.

- Colson Whitehead

Sports, Small, Discovered, Ration

I wrote a book of essays about New York called 'The Colossus of New York,' but it's not about - you know, when I'm writing about rush hour or Central Park, it's not a black Central Park, it's just Central Park, and it's not a black rush hour, it's just rush hour.

- Colson Whitehead

Book, New, Wrote, Essays

I'm always trying to switch voices and genres.

- Colson Whitehead

Trying, Always, Genres, Switch

The Declaration of Independence is that sacred American text so full of meaning and purpose and yet quite empty if you examine it and pull it apart because the words 'All Men' exclude a vast number of citizens.

- Colson Whitehead

Purpose, American, Examine, Apart

In the apocalypse, I think those average, mediocre folks are the ones who are going to live.

- Colson Whitehead

Think, Average, I Think, Apocalypse

I do write about race a lot, but I don't think writers - of any shade or background or whatever - have to write about certain subjects.

- Colson Whitehead

Think, Race, Subjects, Shade

There's always an attack on the sophomore novel from some quarters.

- Colson Whitehead

Some, Always, Sophomore, Novel

If you're writing a detective novel or horror or sci-fi, you want to expand or reinvigorate the genre in your own little way.

- Colson Whitehead

Want, Own, Horror, Novel

I use New York to talk about home, but the ideas in 'Colossus' could be transferred to other cities. The story about Central Park is really about the first day of spring in any park. The Coney Island chapter is really about beaches and summer and heat waves.

- Colson Whitehead

Heat, Chapter, Transferred, Central Park

Monsters are a storytelling tool, like domestic realism and close third.

- Colson Whitehead

Storytelling, Like, Domestic, Tool

For me, choosing between fiction and nonfiction is really only about picking the right tool for the job.

- Colson Whitehead

Me, Fiction, Only, Tool

I envied kids who played soccer and football, but that was not my gig.

- Colson Whitehead

Football, Soccer, Gig, Envied

I enjoy thinking about how race plays out over the centuries, how technology evolves, how cities transform themselves. These subjects are present in some of my books and absent in others.

- Colson Whitehead

Some, Over, Centuries, Absent

I admire Vegas's purity, its entirely wholesome artificiality.

- Colson Whitehead

Vegas, Purity, Wholesome, Entirely

My mom's mother was from Virginia, but I don't feel much of a tie. I'm very much anti-South for many, many reasons. Whenever I go down there, people are always looking at me funny, you know.

- Colson Whitehead

Feel, Very, Reasons, Virginia

Schools don't teach American history that well, especially a lot of black American history.

- Colson Whitehead

Teach, Lot, Schools, American History

A lot of my books have started with an abstract premise.

- Colson Whitehead

Started, Books, Lot, Premise

The movie 'Rock 'n' Roll High School' was a sacred text in my household.

- Colson Whitehead

Rock, High, Rock N Roll, Household

I'm just trying to keep things rich for me creatively and for the readers who follow me.

- Colson Whitehead

Trying, Keep, Things, Readers

Access to information, to music or any kind of culture, is getting faster and faster and more streamlined. At each juncture, people are thrown into tumult and have to adapt or die.

- Colson Whitehead

Die, Access, Streamlined, Juncture

I'm raising kids, and so much of American culture sustains me and gives me things to think about and work on.

- Colson Whitehead

Work, Think, Raising, Sustains

Each book requires a different kind of treatment and structural gambit.

- Colson Whitehead

Kind, Treatment, Structural, Requires

As always, a lot of bad books will be published. Some good books will be published, and you have to seek them out.

- Colson Whitehead

Some, Always, Lot, Published

Most of my books have always worked through juxtaposition, jumping through different point of views and time.

- Colson Whitehead

Through, Always, Most, Juxtaposition

A lot of my writer friends live near me, and that makes people think we just hang around with one another in cafes, trading work and discussing 'Harper's' and what not. But I rarely see them. We're home working.

- Colson Whitehead

Hang, Another, Trading, Near

I grew up reading the 'Village Voice' and wanting to be one of these multidisciplinary music writers, film writers, book writers. And I lucked out getting a job at the 'Voice' right after college.

- Colson Whitehead

Voice, College, Wanting, Village

'Driving while black' was taught to me at a young age.

- Colson Whitehead

Driving, Young, Taught, Young Age

The contemporary casino is more than a gambling destination: it is a multifarious pleasure enclosure intended to satisfy every member of the family unit.

- Colson Whitehead

More, Family Unit, Satisfy, Contemporary

I'm of that subset of native New Yorkers who can't drive.

- Colson Whitehead

Drive, New, Native, New Yorkers

In college, I wrote maybe three short stories.

- Colson Whitehead

College, Maybe, Stories, Short Stories

'John Henry Days' was already half in the can before my first book came out, so I'd already started something that was big and sprawling - I just had to finish it.

- Colson Whitehead

Big, Before, Half, Sprawling

Other people have hang-ups about what's literary or genre or whatever, and that's sort of not my problem. You're supposed to write what you have to write, and you're supposed to keep moving.

- Colson Whitehead

Other, About, Literary, Moving

If self-absorption, vague yearnings, and a nagging sense of incompleteness are sins, then surely I will burn for all eternity, and I will save you a seat.

- Colson Whitehead

Burn, Vague, Surely, Sins

I've always had a love of cards, ever since I was a little kid. I think poker, as a system, describes the chaos of the world. Our sudden reversals, our freak streaks of fortune. The belief that the next hand can save you, and the inevitable failure of the next hand to save you. I think that describes my world view pretty well.

- Colson Whitehead

Love, Next, I Think, Sudden

Generally, I walk around in a glum mood.

- Colson Whitehead

Walk, Mood, Around, Generally

I'm someone who just likes being in my cave and thinking up weird stuff.

- Colson Whitehead

Weird, Cave, Someone, Likes

I am not sure the issue of race in America will ever be completely solved.

- Colson Whitehead

I Am, Sure, Ever, Solved

If you want to understand America, it's slavery.

- Colson Whitehead

Want, Understand, You, Slavery

You can't rush inspiration.

- Colson Whitehead

Inspiration, You, Rush

The idea of sacrifice is integral to the John Henry myth. Heroic figures have to die in order for us to have our stories; we live and stand on their bones.

- Colson Whitehead

Die, Stories, Figures, Myth

I have a good poker face because I am half-dead inside.

- Colson Whitehead

I Am, Face, Because, Poker

When I'm working on a book, I try to do eight pages a week. That seems like a good amount. Less than that, I'm not getting a nice momentum, and more than that, I'm probably putting out too much crap.

- Colson Whitehead

Book, Week, Putting, Crap

There are good writers and bad writers. It's hard to find writers who really speak to you, but the work is out there.

- Colson Whitehead

Work, Good, Bad, Writers

'Zone One' comes out of me trying to work through some of my ideas about why, for me personally, zombies are scary.

- Colson Whitehead

Work, Through, Some, Personally

I never actually went anywhere when I was a journalist. I was a critic, and I just sort of got stuff in the mail and chatted about it.

- Colson Whitehead

Mail, About, Sort, Journalist

'Sag Harbor' was a very different book for me. It changed the way I thought about books that I wanted to do.

- Colson Whitehead

Book, Thought, Very, Harbor

I'm not a teacher; I'm not a historian. I'm trying to create a world for my characters.

- Colson Whitehead

Teacher, World, Characters, Historian

I wanted to be one of these multidisciplinary critics who is doing music one day, TV the next, and books the next.

- Colson Whitehead

Doing, Next, TV, Critics

Some books are well-received with critics; other books sell.

- Colson Whitehead

Some, Other, Books, Critics

Early on my career, I figured out that I just have to write the book I have to write at that moment. Whatever else is going on in the culture is just not that important. If you could get the culture to write your book, that would be great. But the culture can't write your book.

- Colson Whitehead

Career, Going, Could, Figured

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