Ralph Ellison Quotes about Writing

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The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike.

The act of writing requires a constant plunging back into the shadow of the past where time hovers ghostlike.

Ralph Ellison

Writing, Past, Shadow

Ralph Ellison (2011). “Shadow and Act”, p.19, Vintage

So why do I write, torturing myself to put it down? Because in spite of myself I've learned some things. Without the possibility of action, all knowledge comes to one labeled "file and forget," and I can neither file nor forget. Nor will certain ideas forget me; they keep filing away at my lethargy, my complacency. Why should I be the one to dream this nightmare?

Ralph Ellison

Dream, Writing, Ideas

Ralph Ellison (2010). “Invisible Man”, p.592, Vintage

I suspect that all the agony that goes into writing is borne precisely because the writer longs for acceptance-but it must be acceptance on his own terms.

Ralph Ellison

Writing, Acceptance, Agony

Ralph Ellison, Maryemma Graham, Amritjit Singh (1995). “Conversations with Ralph Ellison”, p.9, Univ. Press of Mississippi

By and large, the critics and readers gave me an affirmed sense of my identity as a writer. You might know this within yourself, but to have it affirmed by others is of utmost importance. Writing is, after all, a form of communication.

Ralph Ellison

Communication, Writing, Identity

Ralph Ellison (2011). “Shadow and Act”, p.176, Vintage