People who believe that they are strong-willed and the masters of their destiny can only continue to believe this by becoming specialists in self-deception.
JAMES BALDWINFreedom is not something that anybody can be given. Freedom is something people take, and people are as free as they want to be.
More James Baldwin Quotes
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Guilt is a luxury that we can no longer afford.
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Do I really want to be integrated into a burning house?
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Those who say it can’t be done are usually interrupted by others doing it.
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It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.
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Confusion is a luxury which only the very, very young can possibly afford and you are not that young anymore.
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Our crown has already been bought and paid for. All we have to do is wear it.
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There is a fearful splendor in absolute desolation.
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People can cry much easier than they can change.
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I often wonder what I’d do if there weren’t any books in the world.
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There are few things under heaven more unnerving than the silent, accumulating contempt and hatred of a people.
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You have to go the way your blood beats. If you don’t live the only life you have, you won’t live some other life, you won’t live any life at all.
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I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.
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Hatred is always self hatred, and there is something suicidal about it.
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The world is mostly divided between madmen who remember and madmen who forget. Heroes are rare.
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Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity.
JAMES BALDWIN