Quote by Toni Morrison: “Love is never any better than the lover.”

Love is not some elevated force that lifts people above their flaws. It is shaped by who is doing the loving — their fears, their wounds, their limitations. Selfish people love selfishly. Possessive people love possessively. This is a call to become a better person if you want to love better.

Morrison wrote this in The Bluest Eye, her debut novel published in 1970, during a moment when American literature was beginning to reckon seriously with Black women's inner lives. The book explored how racism and self-hatred deform not just individuals but their capacity to give and receive love.

American novelist, editor, and professor who was the first African American woman to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature, awarded in 1993. Her novels, including Beloved and Song of Solomon, explore the legacies of slavery and Black identity in America with extraordinary depth.