--- title: "4 Nightmare Quotes By James A. Baldwin" description: "4 Nightmare quotes by James A. Baldwin. Plus more from James A. Baldwin and more Nightmare sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/james-a-baldwin-2080_history_james-joyce-is-right-about-history-being_191611.jpg" --- > [James Joyce is right about history being a nightmare-- but it may be that nightmare from which no one can awaken. People…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/james-joyce-is-right-about-history-being-a-nightmare-but-it-may-be/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/823/james-a-baldwin-2080_history_james-joyce-is-right-about-history-being_191611.jpg) > [The question of sexual dominance can exist only in the nightmare of that soul which has armed itself, totally, against the possibility…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/the-question-of-sexual-dominance-can-exist-only-in-the-nightmare-of/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/322/james-a-baldwin-2080_conquest_the-question-of-sexual-dominance-can-exi_351657.jpg) > [There exists among the intolerable degraded, the perverse and powerful desire to force into the arena of the actual those fantastic crimes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/there-exists-among-the-intolerable-degraded-the-perverse-and-powerful/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a06/james-a-baldwin-2080_accused_there-exists-among-the-intolerable-degra_2118194.jpg) > [Everything now, we must assume, is in our hands; we have no right to assume otherwise. If we do not falter in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/everything-now-we-must-assume-is-in-our-hands-we-have-no-right-to/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f35/james-a-baldwin-2080_able_everything-now-we-must-assume-is-in-our_3226562.jpg) ## Other authors on Nightmare - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-robert-englund-79707.jpg) Robert Englund 10 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/robert-englund/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b023/author-suzanne-collins-88237.jpg) Suzanne Collins 9 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/suzanne-collins/) - [Mehmet Murat Ildan 9 quotes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/mehmet-murat-ildan/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b003/author-albert-j-beveridge-10520.jpg) Shelby Harris 8 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/shelby-harris/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b020/author-rick-riordan-79077.jpg) Rick Riordan 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/rick-riordan/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b016/author-malcolm-x-62876.jpg) Malcolm X 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/malcolm-x/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b014/author-karl-marx-55237.jpg) Karl Marx 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/karl-marx/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b006/author-byron-katie-20456.jpg) Byron Katie 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/byron-katie/) - [ ![](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/uploads/sms4s/authors/processed/b005/author-bertrand-russell-17477.jpg) Bertrand Russell 5 quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/bertrand-russell/) ## More by James A. Baldwin > [One cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one's own.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/one-cannot-deny-the-humanity-of-another-without-diminishing-one-s-own/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [All I know about music is that not many people ever really hear it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/all-i-know-about-music-is-that-not-many-people-ever-really-hear-it/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [I've always believed that you can think positive just as well as you can think negative.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/i-ve-always-believed-that-you-can-think-positive-just-as-well-as-you/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [The white man discovered the Cross by way of the Bible, but the black man discovered the Bible by way of the Cross.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/the-white-man-discovered-the-cross-by-way-of-the-bible-but-the-black/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [The American ideal of sexuality appears to be rooted in the American ideal of masculinity. This idea has created cowboys and Indians, good guys…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/the-american-ideal-of-sexuality-appears-to-be-rooted-in-the-american/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [Voyagers discover that the world can never be larger than the person that is in the world; but it is impossible to foresee this,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/voyagers-discover-that-the-world-can-never-be-larger-than-the-person/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [We take our shape, it is true, within and against that cage of reality bequeathed us at our birth; and yet it is precisely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/we-take-our-shape-it-is-true-within-and-against-that-cage-of-reality/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [The American ideal is, after all, that everyone should be as much alike as possible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/the-american-ideal-is-after-all-that-everyone-should-be-as-much-alike/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [James Joyce is right about history being a nightmare-- but it may be that nightmare from which no one can awaken. People are trapped…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/james-joyce-is-right-about-history-being-a-nightmare-but-it-may-be/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [I think Americans are terrified of feeling anything. I never met a people more infantile in my life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/i-think-americans-are-terrified-of-feeling-anything-i-never-met-a/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [Unless a writer is extremely old when he dies, in which case he has probably become a neglected institution, his death must always be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/unless-a-writer-is-extremely-old-when-he-dies-in-which-case-he-has/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [An identity is questioned only when it is menaced, as when the mighty begin to fall, or when the wretched begin to rise, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/an-identity-is-questioned-only-when-it-is-menaced-as-when-the-mighty/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [White people will have quite enough to do in learning how to accept and love themselves and each other, and when they have achieved…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/white-people-will-have-quite-enough-to-do-in-learning-how-to-accept/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [A devotion to humanity is... too easily equated with a devotion to a Cause, and Causes, as we know, are notoriously bloodthirsty.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/a-devotion-to-humanity-is-too-easily-equated-with-a-devotion-to-a/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) > [Most people... find a disorientating mismatch between the long-term nature of their liabilities and the increasingly short-term nature of their assets.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-baldwin/most-people-find-a-disorientating-mismatch-between-the-long-term/) [James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/james-a-baldwin/#itemlist", "name": "4 Nightmare Quotes By James A. Baldwin", "numberOfItems": 4, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "James Joyce is right about history being a nightmare-- but it may be that nightmare from which no one can awaken. People are trapped in history and history in trapped in them.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James A. 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