You've got to be a thermostat rather than a thermometer. A thermostat shapes the climate of opinion; a thermometer just reflects it. Cornel West climatehaveopinion Change image and share on social
It's impossible to translate Wall Street greed into one or two demands. Cornel West demandgreedimpossible Change image and share on social
I take my fundamental cue from John Coltrane that says there must be a priority of integrity, honesty, decency, and mastery of craft. Cornel West coltranecraftcue Change image and share on social
I tend to be one who just speaks from my soul, and so what comes out sometimes is rather harsh. In that sense, I'm very much a part of the tradition of a Frederick Douglass or a Malcolm X who used hyperbolic language at times to bring attention to the state of emergency. Cornel West attentionbringdouglas share on social
When you teach black people that they are less beautiful, less moral, less intelligent, and as a result you defer to the white supremacist status quo, you rationalize your accommodation to the status quo, you lose your fire, you become much more tied to producing foliage, what appears to be the case. Cornel West accommodationappearbeautiful share on social
There is always a very delicate interplay between individual actions and institutional conditions. But there is no such thing as institutional conditions without any individual actions and no such thing as individual action without institutional conditions. So there is always personal responsibility. Cornel West actionconditiondelicate share on social
And when I talk about love, I'm talking about something that's great, though, brother. I'm talking about something that will sustain you. Cornel West brothergreatlove Change image and share on social
Every president needs to deal with the permanent government of the country, and the permanent government of the country is Wall Street oligarchs and corporate plutocrats and the questions becomes what is the relationship between that president and Wall Street. Cornel West corporatecountrydeal share on social
When you socially neglect a people, when you economically abandon a people, when you transfer wealth from them to the well-to-do, what are a people going to do? They're going to respond with very sad forms of despair, and that's true for everybody - I don't care what color you are. Cornel West abandoncarecolor share on social
Anytime I look at a president, I don't care what color he is. Cornel West anytimecarecolor Change image and share on social