The Autobiography of Malcolm X

by

Malcolm X

A slight, soft spoken man, Elijah Muhammad founded and led the Nation of Islam from 1934 until 1975. After Malcolm converts, he becomes his spiritual director and assumes a father-figure role in his life. Muhammad’s apparent righteousness and humility inspire both the support of Malcolm and of the Nation at large. However, Muhammad eventually becomes jealous of Malcolm’s growing fame, and he ultimately makes Malcolm into a scapegoat to divert from scandals around his own sexual affairs.

Elijah Muhammad Quotes in The Autobiography of Malcolm X

The The Autobiography of Malcolm X quotes below are all either spoken by Elijah Muhammad or refer to Elijah Muhammad. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Race and Racism in America Theme Icon
).
Chapter 11 Quotes

Let me tell you something: from then until I left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk. You couldn't have gotten me out of books with a wedge. Between Mr. Muhammad's teachings, my correspondence, my visitors—usually Ella and Reginald—and my reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life.

Related Characters: Malcolm X (speaker), Elijah Muhammad, Ella Little, Reginald Little
Page Number: 176
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

And Allah blessed me to remain true, firm and strong in my faith in Islam, despite many severe trials to my faith. And even when events produced a crisis between Elijah Muhammad and me, I told him at the beginning of the crisis, with all the sincerity I had in me, that I still believed in him more strongly than he believed in himself.

Related Characters: Malcolm X (speaker), Elijah Muhammad
Page Number: 202
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

“Today's Uncle Tom doesn't wear a handkerchief on his head. This modern, twentieth-century Uncle Thomas now often wears a top hat. He's usually well-dressed and well-educated. He's often the personification of culture and refinement. The twentieth-century Uncle Thomas sometimes speaks with a Yale or Harvard accent. Sometimes he is known as Professor, Doctor, Judge, and Reverend, even Right Reverend Doctor. This twentieth-century Uncle Thomas is a professional Negro . . . by that I mean his profession is being a Negro for the white man.”

Related Characters: Malcolm X (speaker), Elijah Muhammad
Page Number: 248
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

And that was how, after twelve years of never thinking for as much as five minutes about myself, I became able finally to muster the nerve, and the strength, to start facing the facts, to think for myself.

Related Characters: Malcolm X (speaker), Elijah Muhammad
Page Number: 313
Explanation and Analysis:
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Elijah Muhammad Quotes in The Autobiography of Malcolm X

The The Autobiography of Malcolm X quotes below are all either spoken by Elijah Muhammad or refer to Elijah Muhammad. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
Race and Racism in America Theme Icon
).
Chapter 11 Quotes

Let me tell you something: from then until I left that prison, in every free moment I had, if I was not reading in the library, I was reading on my bunk. You couldn't have gotten me out of books with a wedge. Between Mr. Muhammad's teachings, my correspondence, my visitors—usually Ella and Reginald—and my reading of books, months passed without my even thinking about being imprisoned. In fact, up to then, I never had been so truly free in my life.

Related Characters: Malcolm X (speaker), Elijah Muhammad, Ella Little, Reginald Little
Page Number: 176
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 12 Quotes

And Allah blessed me to remain true, firm and strong in my faith in Islam, despite many severe trials to my faith. And even when events produced a crisis between Elijah Muhammad and me, I told him at the beginning of the crisis, with all the sincerity I had in me, that I still believed in him more strongly than he believed in himself.

Related Characters: Malcolm X (speaker), Elijah Muhammad
Page Number: 202
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 14 Quotes

“Today's Uncle Tom doesn't wear a handkerchief on his head. This modern, twentieth-century Uncle Thomas now often wears a top hat. He's usually well-dressed and well-educated. He's often the personification of culture and refinement. The twentieth-century Uncle Thomas sometimes speaks with a Yale or Harvard accent. Sometimes he is known as Professor, Doctor, Judge, and Reverend, even Right Reverend Doctor. This twentieth-century Uncle Thomas is a professional Negro . . . by that I mean his profession is being a Negro for the white man.”

Related Characters: Malcolm X (speaker), Elijah Muhammad
Page Number: 248
Explanation and Analysis:
Chapter 16 Quotes

And that was how, after twelve years of never thinking for as much as five minutes about myself, I became able finally to muster the nerve, and the strength, to start facing the facts, to think for myself.

Related Characters: Malcolm X (speaker), Elijah Muhammad
Page Number: 313
Explanation and Analysis: