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I cannot be an optimist but I am a prisoner of hope.

Cornel West

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Cornel West
Age: 71
Born: 1953
Born: June 2
Actor
Critic
Philosopher
Theologian
University Teacher
Writer
Tulsa
Oklahoma
Cornel Ronald West
Cornel R. West
Prisoner
Hope
Cannot
Optimist

More quotes by Cornel West

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The only countervailing force against organized money at the top, is organized people at the bottom.
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what I think separates me from most philosophers probably is that I'm a bluesman in the life of the mind, I'm a jazzman in the world of ideas.
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White supremacy is so deep-seated that it's hard to see it eliminated. But we could definitely push it back.
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It takes tremendous discipline, takes tremendous courage, to think for yourself, to examine yourself.
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Philosophy is in fact a quest for wisdom based in sophia that quest for wisdom has everything to do with a love of wisdom.
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When you are fundamentally committed to something that is right, you just decide to go down fighting. Period.
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Drew Dellinger is one of the most creative, courageous and prophetic poets of his generation. I love his spirit. Don't miss him!
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I think we must never, ever demonize one another. That's true not just black people to black people that's human being to human being.
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It takes more courage to examine the dark corners of your own soul than it does for a soldier to fight on the battlefield.
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I think hip-hop can be prophetic and progressive, and at the same time, the dominant forms tend to be homophobic, misogynistic and something that we need to critically call into question.
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Try to just be true to ourselves, whoever we are, but willing to grow, even as we're true to ourselves.
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Reelection ought not to be the primary preoccupation of any politician. It ought to be standing up for truth and justice.
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When you love poor people THAT MUCH, when you love 'working people' THAT MUCH, that makes you the freest man/woman in the country. - Cornel West in explaining that Obama is A fulfillment of MLK's dream not THE fulfillment of MLK's dream
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There is a price to pay for speaking the truth. There is a bigger price for living a lie.
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We’re beings toward death, we’re … two-legged, linguistically-conscious creatures born between urine and feces whose body will one day be the culinary delight of terrestrial worms.
Cornel West
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Part of the problem is we had so far to go, given the deep homophobia in our society. But, the movement is very real. The movement is very real.
Cornel West
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I don't believe in the elimination of evil. But I believe in fightin' against evil.
Cornel West
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A black agenda is jobs, jobs, jobs, quality education, investment in infrastructure and strong democratic regulation of corporations. The black agenda, at its best, looks at America from the vantage point of the least of these and asks what's best for all.
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As long as hope remains and meaning is preserved, the possibility of overcoming oppression stays alive.
Cornel West
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The problem is not just affirmative action, though. The problem is poor people, working people and their children, and affirmative action for the most part doesn't even apply to them.
Cornel West