All James A. Baldwin Quotes
- Life is more important than art; that's what makes art important. Art
- The purpose of education...is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions. Ability
- If we do not now dare everything, the fulfillment of that prophecy, re-created from the Bible in song by a slave, is upon us: God… Bible
- You think your pains and heartbreaks are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read. [and then you discover that others have… Comparison
- It is only because the world looks on his talent with such a frightening indifference that the artist is compelled to make his talent important. Art
- Even the most incorrigible maverick has to be born somewhere. He may leave the group that produced him-he may be forced to-but nothing will efface… Acceptance
- You cannot fix what you will not face. Cannot Fix
- Great art can only be created out of love. Art
- If you're afraid to die, you will not be able to live. Able
- The hope of the world lies in what one demands, not of others, but of oneself. Demand
- You want to write a sentence as clean as a bone. That is the goal. Bone
- All racists are irresponsible. All
- One can only face in others what one can face in oneself. Face
- Whoever is born in New York is ill-equipped to deal with any other city: all other cities seem, at best, a mistake, and, at worst,… All
- I remember standing on a street corner with the black painter Beauford Delaney down in the Village, waiting for the light to change, and he… All
- A liberal: someone who thinks he knows more about your experience than you do. Experience
- One day, to everyone’s astonishment, someone drops a match in the powder keg and everything blows up. Astonishment
- A society must assume that it is stable, but the artist must know, and he must let us know, that there is nothing stable under… Artist
- If the word integration means anything, this is what it means that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are,… Begin
- The world tends to trap you in the role you play and it is always extremely hard to maintain a watchful, mocking distance between oneself… Always Extremely