---
title: "1 Life Quite Quotes By Jamaica Kincaid"
description: "1 Life Quite quotes by Jamaica Kincaid. Plus more from Jamaica Kincaid and more Life Quite sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55a/jamaica-kincaid-1540_life_there-is-a-certain-way-that-life-ought-t_2764940.png"
---

> [“There is a certain way that life ought to be, an ideal way, a perfect way, and there is the way that life is, not quite the opposite of ideal, not quite the opposite of perfect, it just is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/there-is-a-certain-way-that-life-ought-to-be-an-ideal-way-a-perfect/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/55a/jamaica-kincaid-1540_life_there-is-a-certain-way-that-life-ought-t_2764940.png)

## More by Jamaica Kincaid

> [I'm always telling my students go to law school or become a doctor, do something, and then write. First of all you should have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/i-m-always-telling-my-students-go-to-law-school-or-become-a-doctor-do/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

> [The slave trade was globalism. Why people insist that globalism, after its hideous history, is a good thing, I do not know.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/the-slave-trade-was-globalism-why-people-insist-that-globalism-after/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

> [I have no credentials. I have no money. I literally come from a poor place. I was a servant. I dropped out of college.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/i-have-no-credentials-i-have-no-money-i-literally-come-from-a-poor/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

> [In my writing I'm trying to explore the violations people commit upon each other. And the important thing isn't whether I'm angry. The more…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/in-my-writing-i-m-trying-to-explore-the-violations-people-commit-upon/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

> ["Race." I really can't understand it as anything other than something people say. The people who have said that you and I are both…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/race-i-really-can-t-understand-it-as-anything-other-than-something/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

> [Race as a subject only comes about because of what I look like. If I say something truthfully, people say "Oh, she's so angry."…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/race-as-a-subject-only-comes-about-because-of-what-i-look-like-if-i/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

> [in the place I am from ... a grave is topped off with a huge mound of loose earth - carelessly, as if piled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/in-the-place-i-am-from-a-grave-is-topped-off-with-a-huge-mound-of/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

> [I like melancholy. I like to pretend that I'm alone in the world and I'm just sort of abandoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/i-like-melancholy-i-like-to-pretend-that-i-m-alone-in-the-world-and-i/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

> [I come from the small island of Antigua and I always wanted to write; I just didn't know that it was possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/i-come-from-the-small-island-of-antigua-and-i-always-wanted-to-write/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

> [“Have you ever wondered to yourself why it is that all people like me seem to have learned from you is how to imprison…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/have-you-ever-wondered-to-yourself-why-it-is-that-all-people-like-me/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

> [Love and hatred don't take turns; they exist side by side at the same time. And one's duty, one's obligation every day, is to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/love-and-hatred-don-t-take-turns-they-exist-side-by-side-at-the-same/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

> [“Do you see the queer thing about people like me? Sometimes we hold your retribution.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/do-you-see-the-queer-thing-about-people-like-me-sometimes-we-hold/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

> [I didn't really understand racism because I grew up in an all-black society, so I didn't see how it was possible not to like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/i-didn-t-really-understand-racism-because-i-grew-up-in-an-all-black/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

> [A great piece of literature encompasses all that is and all that will be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/a-great-piece-of-literature-encompasses-all-that-is-and-all-that-will/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

> [The people who invented race, who grouped us together as "black," were inventing and categorizing their ability to do something vicious and wrong.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamaica-kincaid/the-people-who-invented-race-who-grouped-us-together-as-black-were/)

[Jamaica Kincaid](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamaica-kincaid/)

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