---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: There exists among the intolerable…"
description: "\"There exists among the intolerable degraded, the perverse and powerful desire to force into the arena of the actual those fantastic crimes of which the..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a06/james-a-baldwin-2080_accused_there-exists-among-the-intolerable-degra_2118194.jpg"
---

#  There exists among the intolerable degraded, the perverse…

![“There exists among the intolerable degraded, the perverse and powerful desire to force into the arena of the actual those fantastic crimes of which they have been accused, achieving their vengeance and their own destruction through making the nightmare real.” quote by James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a06/james-a-baldwin-2080_accused_there-exists-among-the-intolerable-degra_2118194.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a06/james-a-baldwin-2080_accused_there-exists-among-the-intolerable-degra_2118194.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/a06/james-a-baldwin-2080_accused_there-exists-among-the-intolerable-degra_2118194.jpg)

> “There exists among the intolerable degraded, the perverse and powerful desire to force into the arena of the actual those fantastic crimes of which they have been accused, achieving their vengeance and their own destruction through making the nightmare real.”

[James A. Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-a-baldwin/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

People may seek revenge by manifesting the crimes they are accused of, turning fear into reality and causing self-destruction.

**In simple terms:** Desire for vengeance can create real nightmares.

Key Takeaway

Beware of turning accusations into reality.

Themes

revenge psychology self‑destruction

Mood

cautionary reflective

Type

political psychological

When to use this quote

- political activism
- legal defense
- media framing
- personal conflict resolution

Key Concepts

power dynamics moral philosophy

Questions to Reflect On

- What drives people to enact the crimes they fear?
- How can societies prevent cycles of vengeance?

A Different Perspective

May oversimplify complex motivations.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Desire](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desire/) [Destruction](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destruction/) [Evil](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/evil/) [Fantastic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/fantastic/) [Nightmare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nightmare/) [Perverse](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/perverse/) [Vengeance](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vengeance/) [Wickedness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/wickedness/)

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> [Initially I borrowed the word "perverse" for my works from Roland Barthes, meaning pleasure-driven and not geared to inform or promote a service or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/torbj-rn-r-dland/initially-i-borrowed-the-word-perverse-for-my-works-from-roland/)

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## 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/)

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