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I always felt called to serve, to empower and ennoble as many people as I could, teaching, truth-telling, exposing lies, bearing witness, and being willing to live and die for something bigger than yourself.

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
Many
Teaching
Exposing
Something
Willing
Bearing
Always
Called
Empowering
People
Dies
Witness
Lying
Serve
Felt
Telling
Truth
Bigger
Ennoble
Live
Lies
Empower

More quotes by Cornel West

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Poor people and working people have not been the focus of the Obama administration. That for me is not just a disappointment but a kind of betrayal.
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Martin Luther King was a radical democrat, by which I mean someone who is a foe of wealth inequality.
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Education is soul crafting.
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I remind young people everywhere I go, one of the worst things the older generation did was to tell them for twenty-five years Be successful, be successful, be successful as opposed to Be great, be great, be great. There's a qualitative difference.
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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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The rage is still there but I found the right kind of channel, because it's tied to a love, it's tied to a struggle for justice. And most importantly, for me, it's tied to a recognition that I am a cracked vessel.
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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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I take my fundamental cue from John Coltrane that says there must be a priority of integrity, honesty, decency, and mastery of craft.
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I was blessed to be part of a commercial, pushing for this energy bill, but we've been unsuccessful.
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Every president needs to deal with the permanent government of the country, and the permanent government of the country is Wall Street oligarchs and corporate plutocrats and the questions becomes what is the relationship between that president and Wall Street.
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You keep folks so intimidated. You can give them money, access, but they're still scared. And as long as you're scared, you're on the plantation.
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Rap is just a movement within the larger culture of hip-hop.
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The greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of inspiration.
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We must never so thoroughly disrespect someone that they are beyond the pale and, therefore, have no possibility of being changed.
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As human beings, everyone has stuff coming at them, and a certain kind of fear.
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All you have is a gift a to give.
Cornel West
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There are three dominant tendencies in a neoliberal society: financialized, privatized, militarized. And when it comes to black poor people, we get all three.
Cornel West
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I believe philosophy must go to school with the poets it's not either/or, it's not over or against.
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To be an intellectual really means to speak a truth that allows suffering to speak.
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Rage is fine as long as it doesn't deteriorate into bitterness.
Cornel West