--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I have been carried into precinct…" description: "\"“I have been carried into precinct basements often enough, and I have seen and heard and endured the secrets of desperate white men and women, which th..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b2/james-baldwin-995_men-and-women_i-have-been-carried-into-precinct-baseme_1985790.jpg" --- # I have been carried into precinct basements often enough… ![“I have been carried into precinct basements often enough, and I have seen and heard and endured the secrets of desperate white men and women, which they knew were safe with me, because even if I should speak, no one would believe me. And they would not believe me precisely because they would know…” quote by James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b2/james-baldwin-995_men-and-women_i-have-been-carried-into-precinct-baseme_1985790.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b2/james-baldwin-995_men-and-women_i-have-been-carried-into-precinct-baseme_1985790.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b2/james-baldwin-995_men-and-women_i-have-been-carried-into-precinct-baseme_1985790.jpg) > ““I have been carried into precinct basements often enough, and I have seen and heard and endured the secrets of desperate white men and women, which they knew were safe with me, because even if I should speak, no one would believe me. And they would not believe me precisely because they would know that what I said was true.”” [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker confesses to being a trusted confidante for secret, painful truths that others fear to voice. **In simple terms:** He hears secrets no one believes. Key Takeaway Provide safe spaces for truth‑telling. Themes trust confidentiality social injustice silence Mood somber reflective Type narrative testimonial When to use this quote - counseling - journalism - activism - support groups Key Concepts psychology human rights narrative ethics Questions to Reflect On - Why are some voices dismissed? - How can we validate hidden experiences? A Different Perspective Truth may be dismissed or ignored. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Carried Precinct](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/carried-precinct-3416044/) [Endured Secrets](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/endured-secrets-3416042/) [Knew Safe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/knew-safe-661862/) [Men and women](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-and-women/) [Precinct Basements](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/precinct-basements-3416043/) [Women Knew](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/women-knew-263445/) ## Related quotes > [“It was all he'd felt for too long to change now. Maybe it was too late for any other kind of life. This was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-brown/it-was-all-he-d-felt-for-too-long-to-change-now-maybe-it-was-too-late/) [Virginia Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-brown/) > [“Lord knew jumping back into this fire was a lot like stepping off a cliff into a dark cavern filled with water. Ultimately, you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/catherine-bybee/lord-knew-jumping-back-into-this-fire-was-a-lot-like-stepping-off-a/) [Catherine Bybee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/catherine-bybee/) > [“He hopes she knows that her words aren't being ignored. He was interrogated and had to play it safe so that the enemy wouldn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yanohu-shwiggenstien/he-hopes-she-knows-that-her-words-aren-t-being-ignored-he-was/) [Yanohu shwiggenstien](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yanohu-shwiggenstien/) > [“He would lay here holding her as long as it took and he didn't really care how long that might be. She was his…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shayna-varadeaux/he-would-lay-here-holding-her-as-long-as-it-took-and-he-didn-t-really/) [Shayna Varadeaux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shayna-varadeaux/) > [“Any other night and I might have been scared, or at the very least uncomfortable, but Patch was still in the corner. As long…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/becca-fitzpatrick/any-other-night-and-i-might-have-been-scared-or-at-the-very-least/) [Becca Fitzpatrick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/becca-fitzpatrick/) > [She said she knew we were safe with you, and always would be, because once, when she asked you to, you'd given up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/she-said-she-knew-we-were-safe-with-you-and-always-would-be-because/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [My dad died when I was a kid, so I think it became a place for me to go where my mom knew that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/zachary-quinto/my-dad-died-when-i-was-a-kid-so-i-think-it-became-a-place-for-me-to/) [Zachary Quinto](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/zachary-quinto/) > [“She said she knew we were safe with you, and always would be, because once, when she asked you to, you'd given up the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edith-wharton/she-said-she-knew-we-were-safe-with-you-and-always-would-be-because-2/) [Edith Wharton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edith-wharton/) > [“if women only knew their worth then the world will need alot more good men”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aaron-charles/if-women-only-knew-their-worth-then-the-world-will-need-alot-more/) [Aaron Charles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aaron-charles/) > [She knew what all smart women knew: Laughter made you live better and longer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gail-parent/she-knew-what-all-smart-women-knew-laughter-made-you-live-better-and/) [Gail Parent](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gail-parent/) > [If women only knew the extent of their power!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alphonse-karr/if-women-only-knew-the-extent-of-their-power/) [Alphonse Karr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alphonse-karr/) > [“Nyx was not a nice woman. She knew she didn’t deal with nice women. But she also knew the worst sorts of things these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kameron-hurley/nyx-was-not-a-nice-woman-she-knew-she-didn-t-deal-with-nice-women-but/) [Kameron Hurley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kameron-hurley/) > [“What he didn’t do was control me, or try to mold me into a little wife, some old-fashioned, muted version of who I was.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-green/what-he-didn-t-do-was-control-me-or-try-to-mold-me-into-a-little-wife/) [Jane Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-green/) > [I never really thought about the fact that there weren't female role models, because I had them in my life. The women I knew…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/linda-mcmahon/i-never-really-thought-about-the-fact-that-there-weren-t-female-role/) [Linda McMahon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/linda-mcmahon/) > [It was critical to finding a way out. I had assumed young women knew the history of feminism and must have felt gratitude to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/betty-buckley/it-was-critical-to-finding-a-way-out-i-had-assumed-young-women-knew/) [Betty Buckley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/betty-buckley/) ## More by James Baldwin > [“In any case, white people, who had robbed black people of their liberty and who profited by this theft every hour that they lived,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/in-any-case-white-people-who-had-robbed-black-people-of-their-liberty/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“The South is very beautiful but its beauty makes one sad because the lives that people live, and have lived here, are so ugly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/the-south-is-very-beautiful-but-its-beauty-makes-one-sad-because-the/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“All cultures have, furthermore, an economic, social, and political base, and no culture can continue to live if its political destiny is not in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/all-cultures-have-furthermore-an-economic-social-and-political-base/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“I remembered that life in that room seemed to be occuring beneath the sea, time flowed past indiffrently above us, hours and days had…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/i-remembered-that-life-in-that-room-seemed-to-be-occuring-beneath-the/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“No. It would help if I were able to feel guilty.But the end of innocence is also the end of guilt”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/no-it-would-help-if-i-were-able-to-feel-guilty-but-the-end-of/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“Perhaps now, though, he had hit bottom. One thing about the bottom, he told himself, you can't fall any further. He tried to take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/perhaps-now-though-he-had-hit-bottom-one-thing-about-the-bottom-he/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“What kind of friendship have you had? Or for that matter...what kind of love affairs?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/what-kind-of-friendship-have-you-had-or-for-that-matter-what-kind-of/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“For these are all our children, we will all profit by or pay for what they become.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/for-these-are-all-our-children-we-will-all-profit-by-or-pay-for-what/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“Every society is really governed by hidden laws, by unspoken but profound assumptions on the part of the people, and ours is no exception.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/every-society-is-really-governed-by-hidden-laws-by-unspoken-but/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“In those days my mother was given to the exasperating and mysterious habit of having babies.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/in-those-days-my-mother-was-given-to-the-exasperating-and-mysterious/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“He was suggesting that all Negroes were held in a state of supreme tension between the difficult, dangerous relationship in which they stood to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/he-was-suggesting-that-all-negroes-were-held-in-a-state-of-supreme/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“In the beginning—and neither can this be overstated—a Negro just cannot believe that white people are treating him as they do; he does not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/in-the-beginning-and-neither-can-this-be-overstated-a-negro-just/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“If the world wasn't so full of dead folks maybe those of us that's trying to live wouldn't have to suffer so bad.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/if-the-world-wasn-t-so-full-of-dead-folks-maybe-those-of-us-that-s/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“I am very much concerned that American Negroes achieve their freedom here in the United States. But I am also concerned for their dignity,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/i-am-very-much-concerned-that-american-negroes-achieve-their-freedom/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) > [“The paradox—and a fearful paradox it is—is that the American Negro can have no future anywhere, on any continent, as long as he is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/the-paradox-and-a-fearful-paradox-it-is-is-that-the-american-negro/) [James Baldwin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) [Explore all 312 James Baldwin quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/) ## More Men and women quotes > [“Galton’s gospel of eugenics found fertile soil in Britain, in the intellectual salons of Europe, and in the United States. Beginning in the early…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-loconte/galton-s-gospel-of-eugenics-found-fertile-soil-in-britain-in-the/) [Joseph Loconte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-loconte/) > [Hats off to starting a franchise younger than we all did in 'Twilight' and keeping your cool. The 'Harry Potter' men and women had,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kellan-lutz/hats-off-to-starting-a-franchise-younger-than-we-all-did-in-twilight/) [Kellan Lutz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kellan-lutz/) > [So here's what I want you to know, and here's what I want all our men and women in uniform to know: Because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/so-here-s-what-i-want-you-to-know-and-here-s-what-i-want-all-our-men/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [I never knew a man who deserved to be thought well of for his morals who had a slight opinion of our Sex in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-richardson/i-never-knew-a-man-who-deserved-to-be-thought-well-of-for-his-morals/) [Samuel Richardson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-richardson/) > [“I like men and women who don't fit well in the dominant culture, or, as Alvar de Campos calls them, strangers in this place…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rabih-alameddine/i-like-men-and-women-who-don-t-fit-well-in-the-dominant-culture-or-as/) [Rabih Alameddine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rabih-alameddine/) > [Islam never differentiates between men and women as regards political rights and puts them on an equal footing. However, even if a woman is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/yusuf-al-qaradawi/islam-never-differentiates-between-men-and-women-as-regards-political/) [Yusuf al-Qaradawi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/yusuf-al-qaradawi/) > [Relationships are never more important than your own self worth and if you don't have that then any relationship is worthless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/enhance-dreams/relationships-are-never-more-important-than-your-own-self-worth-and/) [Enhance Dreams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/enhance-dreams/) > [While husbands and lovers in the stories are of all kinds, ranging from sympathetic to disgusting, women are invariably deceivers: inconstant, unscrupulous, quarrelsome, querulous,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-tuchman/while-husbands-and-lovers-in-the-stories-are-of-all-kinds-ranging/) [Barbara Tuchman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-tuchman/) > [“One had heard and read a great deal about death, and even seen a little of it, and knew by heart the thousand commonplaces…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-adams/one-had-heard-and-read-a-great-deal-about-death-and-even-seen-a/) [Henry Adams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-adams/) > [“Eddie saw great things and near misses. Albert Einstein as a child, not quite struck by a run-away milk-wagon as he crossed a street.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-king/eddie-saw-great-things-and-near-misses-albert-einstein-as-a-child-not/) [Stephen King](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-king/) > [“Faced with armed men and women and stuck in theater seats while things exploded right outside, the audience tended more toward terror than analysis.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elliott-kay/faced-with-armed-men-and-women-and-stuck-in-theater-seats-while/) [Elliott Kay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elliott-kay/) > [Have you not heard it said full oft, A woman's nay doth stand for naught?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-shakespeare/have-you-not-heard-it-said-full-oft-a-woman-s-nay-doth-stand-for/) [William Shakespeare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-shakespeare/) > [Men and women shop differently. Men know what they want before they see it. Women don't know what they want until they see it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nikhil-saluja/men-and-women-shop-differently-men-know-what-they-want-before-they/) [Nikhil Saluja](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nikhil-saluja/) > [Man will occasionally stumble over the truth, but most times he will pick himself up and carry on.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/winston-churchill/man-will-occasionally-stumble-over-the-truth-but-most-times-he-will/) [Winston Churchill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/winston-churchill/) > [One of the reasons I wanted to start a company is because I wanted an environment that I wanted to work in. I wanted…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tory-burch/one-of-the-reasons-i-wanted-to-start-a-company-is-because-i-wanted-an/) [Tory Burch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tory-burch/) [Browse all 5,305 Men and women quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men-and-women/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“I have been carried into precinct basements often enough, and I have seen and heard and endured the secrets of desperate white men and women, which they knew were safe with me, because even if I should speak, no one would believe me. And they would not believe me precisely because they would know that what I said was true.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "James Baldwin" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/i-have-been-carried-into-precinct-basements-often-enough-and-i-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Men and women" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/i-have-been-carried-into-precinct-basements-often-enough-and-i-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b2/james-baldwin-995_men-and-women_i-have-been-carried-into-precinct-baseme_1985790.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b2/james-baldwin-995_men-and-women_i-have-been-carried-into-precinct-baseme_1985790.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2b2/james-baldwin-995_men-and-women_i-have-been-carried-into-precinct-baseme_1985790.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“I have been carried into precinct basements often enough, and I have seen and heard and endured the secrets…” — James Baldwin", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "James Baldwin", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-baldwin/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“I have been carried into precinct...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/i-have-been-carried-into-precinct-basements-often-enough-and-i-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-baldwin/i-have-been-carried-into-precinct-basements-often-enough-and-i-have/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```