James A. Baldwin Quotes


The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose. James A. Baldwin Society 116
The power of the white world is threatened whenever a black man refuses to accept the white world's definitions. James A. Baldwin Power 113
Nothing is more desirable than to be released from an affliction, but nothing is more frightening than to be divested of a crutch. James A. Baldwin Affliction 106
People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead. James A. Baldwin Allowed 99
It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have. James A. Baldwin Power 92
Education is indoctrination if you're white - subjugation if you're black. James A. Baldwin Education 87
Hatred, which could destroy so much, never failed to destroy the man who hated, and this was an immutable law. James A. Baldwin Destroy 86
The paradox of education is precisely this - that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated. James A. Baldwin Education 83
It was books that taught me that the things that tormented me most were the very things that connected me with all the people who were alive, or who had ever been alive. James A. Baldwin Alive 83
Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor. James A. Baldwin Anyone 82
Love takes off masks that we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within. James A. Baldwin Love 77
The questions which one asks oneself begin, at least, to illuminate the world, and become one's key to the experience of others. James A. Baldwin Experience 77
No people come into possession of a culture without having paid a heavy price for it. James A. Baldwin Come 74
To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time. James A. Baldwin Time 73
I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually. James A. Baldwin Love 71
There is never time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment; the time is always now. James A. Baldwin Work 70
I want to be an honest man and a good writer. James A. Baldwin Writer 68
I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am also, much more than that. So are we all. James A. Baldwin History 67
The young think that failure is the Siberian end of the line, banishment from all the living, and tend to do what I then did - which was to hide. James A. Baldwin Failure 66
The paradox of education is precisely this - that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated. James A. Baldwin education 58
Every legend, moreover, contains its residuum of truth, and the root function of language is to control the universe by describing it. James A. Baldwin Contains 57
Nobody is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart; for his purity, by definition, is unassailable. James A. Baldwin Dangerous 56
Love him and let him love you. Do you think anything else under heaven really matters? James A. Baldwin Love 55
To act is to be committed, and to be committed is to be in danger. James A. Baldwin Act 52
No one can possibly know what is about to happen: it is happening, each time, for the first time, for the only time. James A. Baldwin Time 52
People can cry much easier than they can change. James A. Baldwin change 48
The price one pays for pursuing any profession, or calling, is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side. James A. Baldwin Calling 48
The future is like heaven, everyone exalts it, but no one wants to go there now. James A. Baldwin Everyone 44
The face of a lover is an unknown, precisely because it is invested with so much of oneself. It is a mystery, containing, like all mysteries, the possibility of torment. James A. Baldwin Containing 43
Life is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time. James A. Baldwin Down 39
Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up. James A. Baldwin Love 36
People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them. James A. Baldwin History 34
American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it. James A. Baldwin History 30
The world is before you and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in. James A. Baldwin Came 29
Fires can't be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men. Enthusiasm in our daily work lightens effort and turns even labor into pleasant tasks. James A. Baldwin Men 26
To be sensual, I think, is to respect and rejoice in the force of life, of life itself, and to be present in all that one does, from the effort of loving to the making of bread. James A. Baldwin Bread 26
The only thing that white people have that black people need, or should want, is power-and no one holds power forever. James A. Baldwin Power 25

Showing 1 to 37 of 37 entries

Previous1Next

James A. Baldwin Quotes

Search Result