Quotes by Charles W. Chesnutt

“When the pride of intellect and caste is broken; when we grovel in the dust of humiliation; when sickness and sorrow come, and the shadow of death falls upon us, and there is no hope elsewhere,”

“We are all puppets in the hands of Fate, and seldom see the strings that move us.””

“Those who set in motion the forces of evil cannot always control them afterwards.””

“Selfishness is the most constant of human motives. Patriotism, humanity, or the love of God may lead to sporadic outbursts which sweep away the heaped-up wrongs of centuries; but they languish at times, while the love of self works on ceaselessly, unwearyingly, burrowing always at the very roots of life, and heaping up fresh wrongs for other centuries to sweep away.””

“Had Julius lived in a happier age for men of his complexion, the world might have had a black Aesop or Grimm””

“I am asking Julius to explain," I said, "why his people are so partial to chickens.””

“Fo' de Lawd!' he say, 'dat mule drunk! he be'n drinkin' de wine.' En sho' 'nuff, de mule had pas' right by de tub er fraish grape-juice en push' de kiver off'n de bairl, en drunk two er th'ee gallon er de wine w'at had been stan'in' long ernough fer ter begin ter git sha'p.””

“La vita? Che tipo di vita? Mi hai dato il tuo sangue, i tuoi lineamenti e mi hai dato una madre nera. Povera disgraziata! È morta sotto la frusta, perché aveva troppa dignità come donna per voler vendere l’anima. Mi hai dato uno spirito da bianco, poi hai fatto di me uno schiavo, e lo hai schiacciato.””

“Ho imparato a capire che né l’educazione né la cultura cambieranno mai il colore della mia pelle e che dovrò portarmi sempre dietro quello che nel mio paese è un marchio degradante. Se ci penso seriamente, non mi importa molto di questa vita. È l’animale dentro di me, non l’uomo, che vuole evitare la forca.””

“Chesnutt had spent most of his childhood in North Carolina and at the age of fourteen he had become a pupil-teacher at the Howard School, Fayetteville, one of many institutions founded for black students by the Freedmen’s Bureau during the Reconstruction era.””

“Race prejudice is the devil unchained.””

“It was a prerogative of aristocracy, Ellis reflected, to live upon others, and the last privilege which aristocracy in decay would willingly relinquish.””