Quote of the Day by Toni Morrison: 'You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down'

Toni Morrison is one of the most celebrated authors in the world and is known for her countless prestigious awards including the Pulitzer Prize and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama. As the first African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, Morrison’s work has inspired a generation of writers to follow in her footsteps. Born in 1931, Toni Morrison's enduringly poignant literary work explores the plurality of Black narratives, particularly through the eyes of Black women and girls. Storytelling, songs, and folktales were a deeply formative part of her childhood.

In 1993, Toni Morrison scripted history as the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. Morrison’s novels continue to be a subject of richly complex scholarship, contemporary relevance, and attempted censorship. In 1958, Toni Morrison married Harold Morrison, a Jamaican architect. They were married six years before divorcing and had two sons together.

Morrison’s first book, The Bluest Eye (1970), is a novel of initiation concerning a victimized adolescent Black girl who is obsessed by white standards of beauty which received widespread appreciation.

Quote of the Day by Toni Morrison

Today's quote of the day: 'You wanna fly, you got to give up the shit that weighs you down' is widely attributed to Toni Morrison and has been widely used by media houses, publications and outlets. The quote by the American author is a blunt, powerful reminder that freedom and growth demand letting go of burdens that hold us back. The quote has a simple message- if you want to soar high, you don't have to care about the hurdles that tries to put you down.

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Meaning of the quote by Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison's quote uses the phrase “flying” and here it means rising above limitations, achieving dreams, and reaching a higher version of oneself. But the author makes it crystal clear that getting this level of success is not possible if you cling to emotional, psychological, or social baggage.

Toni Morrison also uses the word' weight' which in this context refers to past trauma, toxic relationships, guilt, fear, self-doubt, resentment, unhealthy habits, or even limiting beliefs. If you want to be successful, you have to let go of past traumas and doubt, she says. Generally, people aspire to become successful while still holding on to these familiar burdens. But Toni Morrison suggests that if you want true progress, it requires courage to step out of your comfort zone.

Another important point Toni Morrison tries to make here is that no one else can remove these weights for us and the decision to let go must come from within. It may be painful, uncomfortable, and emotionally difficult, but it is necessary for transformation.

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Morrison highlights that growth is not about adding more to our lives, but also about subtracting what no longer serves us. A person cannot reach their potential while carrying emotional and mental clutter, she says. If we want to fly, we must first recognize what is dragging us down and have the strength to release it, making space for freedom, clarity, and personal elevation.

Other powerful and inspiring quotes by Toni Morrison

"We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” — from her Nobel Prize acceptance speech.

“Love is divine only and difficult always.” — Paradise.

“What’s the world for you if you can’t make it up the way you want it?” — Jazz.

“I didn’t fall in love, I rose in it.” — Jazz.

“I didn’t want to speak for Black people and I wanted to speak to, and to be among them… it’s us. So the first thing I had to do was to eliminate the white gaze.” — Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am.

“Navigating a white male world was not threatening. It wasn’t even interesting. I was more interesting than they were. I knew more than they did. And I wasn’t afraid to show it.” — Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am.

“For me the history of the place of Black people in this country is so varied, complex and beautiful. And impactful.” — Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am.

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“When I was teaching at Princeton, I had one course in creative writing. And I would tell the students… I do not want you to write anything about your little life. I know you have been taught to write about what you know. I’m telling you, do not do that. You don’t know anything. So I want you to invent.” — Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am.

“My world did not shrink because I was a Black female writer. It just got bigger.” — quoted from a 1987 New York Times article.

“She is a friend of my mind. She gather me, man. The pieces I am, she gather them and give them back to me and all the right order. It’s good, you know, when you’ve got a woman who is a friend of your mind.” — Beloved.

“The people who do this thing, who practice racism, are bereft. That is something distorted about the psyche. It’s a huge waste and it’s a corruption and a distortion.” — Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am.

“I always said I’m a teacher who writes or an editor who writes. But I never said the real thing until after I’d written a third book. It’s the sort of thing that women frequently do. They sort of need permission to tell themselves that this is the work they do.” — Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am.

“I get up before the sun rises. Always get up early. I want to beat the sun. So I have to be there just before it comes up. It’s the best time.” — Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am.

“I have a little framed document in my bathroom, a letter from, I think Texas Bureau of Corrections, saying that ‘Paradise’ was banned from the prison because it might incite a riot. And I thought, how powerful is that? I could tear up the whole place!” — Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am.

“…to get to a place where you could love anything you chose – not to need permission for desire – well now, that was freedom.” — Beloved.