Quotes by Alex Haley

About Alex Haley:

Alexander Murray Palmer "Alex" Haley was an American writer known as the author of the 1976 book Roots: The Saga of an American Family. The book was adapted by ABC as a TV mini-series of the same name and aired in 1977 to a record-breaking 130 million viewers. It had great influence on awareness in the United States of African-American history and inspired a broad interest in genealogy and family history.
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The first time he had taken the massa to one of these "high-falutin' to-dos," as Bell called them, Kunta had been all but overwhelmed by conflicting emotions: awe, indignation, envy, contempt, fascination, revulsion—but most of all a deep lonelines...

Alex Haley

When you start about family, about lineage and ancestry, you are talking about every person on earth.

Alex Haley

In every conceivable manner, the family is link to our past, bridge to our future.

Alex Haley

Roots is not just a saga of my family. It is the symbolic saga of a people.

Alex Haley

My fondest hope is that 'Roots' may start black, white, brown, red, yellow people digging back for their own roots. Man, that would make me feel 90 feet tall.

Alex Haley

In my writing, as much as I could, I tried to find the good, and praise it.

Alex Haley

Anytime you see a turtle up on top of a fence post, you know he had some help.

Alex Haley

I look at my books the way parents look at their children. The fact that one becomes more successful than the others doesn't make me love the less successful one any less.

Alex Haley

Racism is taught in our society, it is not automatic. It is learned behavior toward persons with dissimilar physical characteristics.

Alex Haley

Nobody can do for little children what grandparents do. Grandparents sort of sprinkle stardust over the lives of little children.

Alex Haley

Either you deal with what is the reality, or you can be sure that the reality is going to deal with you.

Alex Haley

Find the good, and praise it.

Alex Haley

Tying the little folks with the older folks is a great and powerful tool to preserve and to protect the family and the individual.

Alex Haley

Author Bio

  • NameAlex Haley
  • DescriptionAfrican American biographer, screenwriter, and novelist
  • BornAugust 11, 1921
  • DiedFebruary 10, 1992
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionJournalist; Writer; Historian; Novelist
  • WorksQueen: The Story Of An American Family; Roots: The Saga Of An American Family
  • AwardsSpingarn Medal; Lillian Smith Book Award