Cornel West Quotes

About the joys and the courage, I really don't know what other people think. I just know that I've never left Africa. I've lived there all my life. And one of the wonderful things, in spite of all the terrible things that happen in South Africa, is the way people continue to keep their dignity.

Even in the most wretched life, there’s hope.

Trust can be a hard lesson; hope still more difficult.

Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.

We sit in the mud... and reach for the stars.

The most audacious thing I could possibly state in this day and age is that life is worth living. It's worth being bashed against. It's worth getting scarred by. It's worth pouring yourself over every one of its coals.

Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness.

If you want to see the sunshine, you have to weather the storm.

Pessimism is a luxury that a Jew can never allow himself.

My life is a beautiful struggle.

While I still have more good days than bad days, I'm going to keep playing.

Life has never been easy. Nor is it meant to be. It is a matter of being joyous in the face of sorrow.

The secret is not to give up hope. It's very hard not to because if you're really doing something worthwhile I think you will be pushed to the brink of hopelessness before you come through the other side.

When it gets dark enough you can see the stars.

Have a little faith, kick a little dirt.

I've had to learn to fight all my life - got to learn to keep smiling. If you smile things will work out.

I grew up in a working-class neighborhood, so there was always a sense of struggle, but we had hope.

You can't cry when things get a little bit hard. You've just got to push through and know that there's a reason and end to the means.

I've always been the person to look at any turmoil as temporary. I recall times where my mom was working five and six jobs, and there's still no food in the house.

I lived below the poverty line when I was young and starting out as a writer. But my wife and I kept trying to do things better, as anyone with ambition does. But just because you're trying doesn't mean you're always going to succeed.

If you try and kind of focus on hope, but you know what it's like to be in the dark, then hope is more meaningful.

I know my family's condition and how we struggled. But the Almighty has something for everybody.

I've had many ups and downs before, and I think it's always darkest before dawn.

I learnt in South America and in Africa that people who have really big problems in the ghetto always keep a sense of humour and remain positive. If not, you go down.

On my worst day I always tell myself I'm not in a field picking cotton.