All James A. Baldwin Quotes
- Hatred, which could destroy so much, never failed to destroy the man who hated, and this was an immutable law. African American
- To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time. African American
- A child cannot be taught by anyone who despises him, and a child cannot afford to be fooled. Afford
- Money, it turned out, was exactly like sex, you thought of nothing else if you didn't have it and thought of other things if you… Dating
- American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it. American
- When one begins to live by habit and by quotation, one has begun to stop living. Begins
- People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them. History
- 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… Daily
- The price one pays for pursuing any profession, or calling, is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side. Any
- Any writer, I suppose, feels that the world into which he was born is nothing less than a conspiracy against the cultivation of his talent. Any
- Education is indoctrination if you're white - subjugation if you're black. Black
- Nothing is more desirable than to be released from an affliction, but nothing is more frightening than to be divested of a crutch. Affliction
- People can cry much easier than they can change. Change
- Most of us are about as eager to be changed as we were to be born, and go through our changes in a similar state… Born
- The only thing that white people have that black people need, or should want, is power-and no one holds power forever. Black
- I want to be an honest man and a good writer. Good
- No people come into possession of a culture without having paid a heavy price for it. Culture
- 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… African American
- Every legend, moreover, contains its residuum of truth, and the root function of language is to control the universe by describing it. Contains
- Nobody is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart; for his purity, by definition, is unassailable. Dangerous