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All gods who receive homage are cruel. All gods dispense suffering without reason. Otherwise they would not be worshipped. Through indiscriminate suffering men know fear and fear is the most divine emotion. It is the stones for altars and the beginning of wisdom. Half gods are worshipped in wine and flowers. Real gods require blood.

— Zora Neale Hurston Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)

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More quotes by Zora Neale Hurston

Love, I find is like singing. Everybody can do enough to satisfy themselves, though it may not impress the neighbors as being very much.

Dust Tracks on a Road (1942)

Gods always behave like the people who make them.

Tell My Horse (1938)

Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board.

Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)

Research is formalized curiosity. It is poking and prying with a purpose. It is a seeking that he who wishes may know the cosmic secrets of the world and they that dwell therein.

Dust Tracks on a Road (1942)

Mama exhorted her children at every opportunity to "jump at de sun." We might not land on the sun, but at least we would get off the ground.

Dust Tracks on a Road (1942)

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Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Zora Neale Hurston (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.