Invisible Man Quotes

Find the perfect quote to float your boat. Shmoop breaks down key quotations from Invisible Man.

Identity Quotes

I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. (Prologue.1)

Race Quotes

I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time been ashamed. About eighty-five years ago they were told that they were free, united w...

Lies and Deceit Quotes

That invisibility to which I refer occurs because of a peculiar disposition of the eyes of those with whom I come in contact. A matter of the construction of their inner eyes, those eyes with which...

Ideology Quotes

"Exactly," the brother with the pipe said. "It was the antithesis of the scientific approach. Ours is a reasonable point of view. We are champions of the scientific approach to society, and such a...

Memory and the Past Quotes

I am not ashamed of my grandparents for having been slaves. I am only ashamed of myself for having at one time been ashamed. (1.2)

Power Quotes

I am invisible, understand, simply because people refuse to see me. (Prologue.1)

Admiration Quotes

But more than that, he was the example of everything I hoped to be: Influential with wealthy men all over the country; consulted in matters concerning the race; a leader of his people; the possesso...

Ambition Quotes

On my graduation day I delivered an oration in which I showed that humility was the secret, indeed, the very essence of progress. (Not that I believed this – how could I, remember my grandfat...

Love Quotes

"I dearly loved my master, son," she said. "You should have hated him," I said. "He gave me several sons," she said, "and because I loved my sons I learned to love their father though I hated him t...

Women and Femininity Quotes

A sea of faces, some hostile, some amused, ringed around us, and in the center, facing us, stood a magnificent blonde – stark naked. (1.7)