Cornel West

Philosopher, public intellectual

Contemporary influential 146 sayings

Sayings by Cornel West

We are all in this together, or we are not in it at all.

2010s — Various speeches and interviews
Controversial Unverifiable

The greatest act of courage is to love in a world of hate.

1990s — Various speeches and books
Controversial Unverifiable

To be a radical is to go to the root of the problem.

1990s — Various speeches and books
Controversial Unverifiable

The true revolution begins in the heart.

2000s — Various speeches and interviews
Controversial Unverifiable

We must never allow comfort to compromise our conscience.

2010s — Various speeches and interviews
Controversial Unverifiable

We're beings toward death, we're featherless, two-legged, linguistically-conscious creatures born between urine and feces whose body will one day be the culinary delight of terrestrial worms. That's us.

Unknown, but widely attributed. — Cited in multiple sources as a general quote, reflecting his philosophical outlook.
Humorous Unverifiable

I'm a jazzman in the life of the mind. I'm a bluesman in the world of ideas. I'm a participant.

2014 — Interview Magazine interview with Questlove.
Humorous Unverifiable

A lot of folk who have lost faith in God it's a very healthy thing because the God they lost faith in was probably an idol anyway.

Unknown, but widely attributed. — Goodreads quotes, from a discussion on faith.
Humorous Unverifiable

At our best. Now, I'm not romanticizing black people, because we've got gangsters like everybody else. [laughs] But oh, Lord, we got some great ones.

2014 — Interview Magazine interview with Questlove, discussing black prophetic fire and community.
Humorous Unverifiable

My dear brother Barack Obama has a certain fear of free black men. As a young brother who grows up in a white context, brilliant African father, he's always had to fear being a white man with black skin. All he has known culturally is white. He has a certain rootlessness, a deracination.

Approx. 2012-2016 (during Obama's presidency or immediate aftermath), cited in 2023 article. — Quotes and Sayings on Medium, attributed to him regarding Barack Obama.
Humorous Unverifiable

There's a certain rhythmic seduction to the word [nigger].

2007 — Discussing the use of the word 'nigger' in 2007.
Humorous Unverifiable

If the only alternative to fascism we produce is a corporate-driven, milquetoast, neoliberal Democratic Party, fascism will come to America. Let us be very clear. It's like a Weimar America.

2023 — Speaking to Chris Hedges on The Real News Network, discussing his presidential candidacy.
Humorous Unverifiable

You've got to be a thermostat rather than a thermometer. A thermostat shapes the climate of opinion; a thermometer just reflects it.

May 6, 2017 (A-Z Quotes date) — Widely attributed quote, found on A-Z Quotes and QuoteFancy.
Humorous Unverifiable

Clever gimmicks of mass distraction yield a cheap soulcraft of addicted and self-medicated narcissists.

Approx. 2010s-2020s, cited in 2023 articles. — Gracious Quotes and Quotes and Sayings on Medium, as a general quote.
Humorous Unverifiable

Everybody's smiling while folks are getting crushed down here!

2011 — Speech at Howard University in April 2011, discussing black hardship in America.
Humorous Unverifiable

I feel as if I have been blessed to undergo a transformation from 'gangster' to 'redeemed sinner with gangster proclivities.'

Unknown, but widely attributed. — Gracious Quotes, listed as a famous quote.
Humorous Unverifiable

Idealism should be kept for what is ideal!

Unknown, discussing Bourne's essay 'The War and the Intellectuals'. — Goodreads, quoting Randolph Bourne.
Humorous Unverifiable

It's impossible to translate the issue of the greed of Wall Street into one demand, or two demands.

2011 — Expressing frustration with critics of Occupy Wall Street in 2011.
Humorous Unverifiable

Calling Larry Summers 'the Ariel Sharon of higher education'.

2002 — Public interviews after leaving Harvard University to return to Princeton in 2002, on the NPR progra…
Humorous Unverifiable

I hate his lies. and his gangster neo-fascism. I don't hate brother Biden. I hate this hypocrisy. and I hate his milk those neoliberal. policy

2023 — Interview on Hard Lens Media, discussing his presidential campaign.
Humorous Unverifiable