Eddy L. Harris > Quotes

“The rest of the world points an angry finger at the South. The rest of the world sees the cinders only in the eyes of southerners. The rest of the world refuses to see the soot in its own eyes.

The South, in attitude and in effect, is probably not much worse than the North--only in degree and display. It's simply that the South has always been honest about its hatred and its prejudice. Northern intolerance has been subtle, therefore more pernicious and snaring.”
― Eddy L. Harris, South of Haunted Dreams: A Memoir

“Diehard musicians hate to go home.”
― Eddy L. Harris, Mississippi Solo: A River Quest

“A vacation is external. A pilgrimage is internal. An adventure combines them.”
― Eddy L. Harris, Mississippi Solo: A River Quest

“How are the white folks treating you?" He looked at me and sneered.

"This is Alabama, son," he said, though he seemed younger than I. "How do you think they're treating us?”
― Eddy L. Harris, South of Haunted Dreams: A Memoir

“I was young and stupid. I did not see limitations because of my race or my sex or my nationality. I didn't see limitations at all. Kids never do until they learn them.”
― Eddy L. Harris, South of Haunted Dreams: A Memoir

“Quand on a été seul si longtemps, sans avoir à répondre à qui que ce soit, la solitude devient la norme, un refuge. Le silence qui vous entoure ouvre vos sens. Vous baignez dans la sérénité et la paix et vous pensez qu’il devrait en être ainsi tout le temps. Vous n’êtes plus fait pour la compagnie des hommes parce qu’ils vous rendent irritable et fébrile. Ils ne vous comprennent pas et vous ne les comprenez plus. Leur compagnie n’est nécessaire qu’épisodiquement, non parce que vous avez besoin de parler à quelqu’un, mais parce que de temps à autre vous avez besoin de vérifier que vous êtes un être humain. Souvent, ce n’est pas une réalité que vous appréciez.”
― Eddy L. Harris, Mississippi Solo: A River Quest

“Les hommes parlent trop et disent n’importe quoi. Ils piétinent votre sensibilité. Le vent, les arbres et le fleuve, les montagnes et les oiseaux, parlent eux aussi, mais en chuchotant. Ils parlent à travers vous. Ils parlent à votre sensibilité en vous faisant ressentir ce qu’ils ont à dire.”
― Eddy L. Harris, Le Mississippi dans la peau

“I wondered if children ought to have heroes at all. The men and women we worship are as flawed as the men and women we don't.”
― Eddy L. Harris, South of Haunted Dreams: A Memoir

“White wasn't better, it turned out, or smarter. Just richer. Still richer. Always richer.”
― Eddy L. Harris, South of Haunted Dreams: A Memoir

“Perhaps in a way, then, the kindly old South is responsible for the violent present we have inherited. Since the founding of the republic the South has dictated and defined us. Perhaps the South, more even than the wild wild West, more in fact than any other region, is responsible for who we are as a people and as a nation. Since the very beginning the South has compromised us.”
― Eddy L. Harris, South of Haunted Dreams: A Memoir