Dreams From My Father
Author: Barack Obama Category: Autobiography Published: July 1, 1995 Language: English File Size: 1.7 MB Tags: African American | autobiography | Biography | History | Memoir | Nonfiction | Politics | Race |Theme:
What is Dreams from My Father about? Dreams from My Father is a memoir by Barack Obama that delves into his early life, family history, and the journey of self-discovery. Through poignant storytelling, Obama reflects on his multicultural upbringing and explores the complexities of race, identity, and belonging.
Summary:
It is a memoir by Barack Obama that explores the events of his early years in Honolulu and Chicago until his entry into Harvard Law School in 1988.
The story of Obama’s struggle to understand the forces that shaped him as the son of a black African father and white American mother—a struggle that takes him from the American heartland to the ancestral home of his great-aunt in the tiny African village of Alego.
Famous Quotes:
“At the time of his death, my father remained a myth to me, both more and less than a man.”
“To be black was to be the beneficiary of a great inheritance, a special destiny, glorious burdens that only we were strong enough to bear.”
“The emotions between the races could never be pure; even love was tarnished by the desire to find in the other some element that was missing in ourselves. Whether we sought out our demons or salvation, the other race would always remain just that: menacing, alien, and apart.”
“You might be locked into a world not of your own making, her eyes said, but you still have a claim on how it is shaped. You still have responsibilities.”
“‘Attitudes aren’t so different in America,’ I told Francis. ‘You are probably right,’ he said. ‘But you see, a rich country like America can perhaps afford to be stupid.’”
“‘There’s nobody to guide them through the process of becoming a man… to explain to them the meaning of manhood. And that’s a recipe for disaster.’”
“The emotions between the races could never be pure; even love was tarnished by the desire to find in the other some element that was missing in ourselves. Whether we sought out our demons or salvation, the other race would always remain just that: menacing, alien, and apart.”
Beautiful lines:
“‘Confidence. The secret to a man’s success.’”
“‘Where there is no experience, I believe the wise man is silent.’”
“She had taught me to disdain the blend of ignorance and arrogance that too often characterized Americans abroad.”
“‘I think perhaps education doesn’t do us much good unless it is mixed with sweat.’”
“‘Sometimes you can’t worry about hurt. Sometimes you worry only about getting where you have to go.’”
“In politics, like religion, power lay in certainty – and that one man’s certainty always threatened another’s.”
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