Cornel West Quotes on Love
Cornel West, the American philosopher and public intellectual, places love at the centre of his prophetic vision of justice and democracy, and the quotes gathered here express it. His best-known formulation makes the connection direct, that justice is what love looks like in public, paired here with the attributed companion line that tenderness is what love feels like in private. West argues that the deepest social ills are not finally answered by argument: nihilism, he writes, is not overcome by arguments or analyses but is tamed by love and care. He grounds political leadership in the same principle, insisting that you cannot lead the people if you do not love the people. Drawn from Race Matters, Democracy Matters, and his other works, these passages present love as the living source of justice, service, and democratic hope.
Quotes
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“Justice is what love looks like in public.”
Brother West (2009), p. 232 -
Attributed to Cornel West:
“Tenderness is what love feels like in private.”
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“To be a Christian - a follower of Jesus Christ - is to love wisdom , love justice , and love freedom . (p172)”
Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism(2004) -
“Nihilism is not overcome by arguments or analyses; it is tamed by love and care. Any disease of the soul must be conquered by a turning of one’s soul. (p19)”
Race Matters(1993) -
“You can't lead the people if you don't love the people. You can't save the people, if you don't serve the people.”
Hope on a Tightrope: Words and Wisdom (2008); also on "The Way I See It" Starbucks Coffee Cup #284 -
“Anytime two human beings find genuine pleasure, joy, and love, the stars smile and the universe is enriched. Yet as long as that pleasure, joy, and love is still predicated on myths of black sexuality, the more fundamental challenge of humane interaction remains unmet. (p85)”
Race Matters(1993)