People are trapped in history and history is trapped in them.
JAMES BALDWINLife is tragic simply because the earth turns and the sun inexorably rises and sets, and one day, for each of us, the sun will go down for the last, last time.
More James Baldwin Quotes
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All I know about music is that not many people ever really hear it.
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The world is before you, and you need not take it or leave it as it was when you came in.
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I want to be an honest man and a good writer.
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Hatred, which could destroy so much, never failed to destroy the man who hated, and this was an immutable law.
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Nakedness has no color: this can come as news only to those who have never covered, or been covered by, another naked human being.
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We all commit our crimes. The thing is to not lie about them.
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People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned.
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It’s a miracle to realize that somebody loves you.
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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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Everyone wishes to be loved, but in the event, nearly no one can bear it. Everyone desires love but also finds it impossible to believe that he deserves it.
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Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.
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The role of the artist is exactly the same as the role of the lover. If I love you, I have to make you conscious of the things you don’t see.
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When you’re writing you’re trying to find out something which you don’t know.
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Whoever debases others is debasing himself.
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The paradox of education is precisely this – that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.
JAMES BALDWIN