Celebrities Share Heartfelt Tributes to Toni Morrison After Her Death: "Rest, Queen"

"If there is a book that you want to read but it hasn't been written yet, you must be the one to write it," Toni Morrison said.

We are all so lucky to live in a world where she took her own advice and shared it with others.

— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) August 6, 2019

Toni Morrison. While you have left the physical realm, the many treasures you left us will bear fruit for generations and generations. Your work has cascaded through my life deeply and simply...rest in power to a beloved icon. pic.twitter.com/YQPS3gR5Ml

— Tracee Ellis Ross (@TraceeEllisRoss) August 6, 2019

In the passing of Toni Morrison, we lost one of our greatest voices & storytellers. Holding close those touched by her being & her gift. Her work gave us power, hope & freedom. While our world shines a little less bright today, we know "something that is loved is never lost."

— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) August 6, 2019

“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.” Toni Morrison. I’m deeply sadden to share that one of our greatest writers and minds in American History, Toni Morrison, passed away at the age of 88. May God Bless Her Soul. pic.twitter.com/Dq1UL4ENIY

— COMMON (@common) August 6, 2019

RIP Toni Morrison. This is a devastating loss to the world of words, to our understanding of power and it’s reach, to the cultivation of empathy, to rich, nuanced, elegant storytelling. Her work was a gift to every one who had the pleasure of reading her.

— roxane gay (@rgay) August 6, 2019

She made me understand“writer” was a fine profession. I grew up wanting to be only her. Dinner with her was a night I will never forget. Rest, Queen. “Toni Morrison, seminal author who stirringly chronicled the Black American experience, dies” https://t.co/S6qxix5OCj

— shonda rhimes (@shondarhimes) August 6, 2019

“If you look at the world as a brutal game, then you bump into the mystery of the tree-shaped scar. There seems to be such a thing as grace, such a thing as beauty, such a thing as harmony. All of which are wholly free and available to us.” Your life was our gift, #ToniMorrison pic.twitter.com/wcD7w9zKYp

— Ava DuVernay (@ava) August 6, 2019

“We die. That may be the meaning of life. But we do language. That may be the measure of our lives.”

Holding all those touched by Toni Morrison in my heart today. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/2jkAvtaErK

— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) August 6, 2019

Toni Morrison was a towering intellect, a brilliant scribe of our nation’s complex stories, a heartbreaking journalist of our deepest desires, and a groundbreaking author who destroyed precepts, walls and those who dared underestimate her capacity. Rest well and in peace. pic.twitter.com/nMkxXRtEoz

— Stacey Abrams (@staceyabrams) August 6, 2019

Toni Morrison was a national treasure, as good a storyteller, as captivating, in person as she was on the page. Her writing was a beautiful, meaningful challenge to our conscience and our moral imagination. What a gift to breathe the same air as her, if only for a while. pic.twitter.com/JG7Jgu4p9t

— Barack Obama (@BarackObama) August 6, 2019

#ToniMorrison has died. Just when we most need to hear her voice, she is gone. Thank you for the insights, the stories, and the poetry of your thought that have enriched us all these many years. Lay your burden down.

— Bette Midler (@BetteMidler) August 6, 2019

Toni Morrison will be remembered as one of the greatest thinkers and storytellers in our history.

She gave us all so much, and her work continues to give throughout time. Thank you, Toni Morrison. https://t.co/XEDGNS7OXW

— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) August 6, 2019

"If you are free, you need to free somebody else. If you have some power, then your job is to empower somebody else." -Toni Morrison

Today we lost an American legend. May she rest in peace. https://t.co/DInZvd8stY

— Bernie Sanders (@BernieSanders) August 6, 2019