A devotion to humanity is... too easily equated with a devotion to a Cause, and Causes, as we know, are notoriously bloodthirsty. James A. Baldwin More Quotes by James A. Baldwin More Quotes From James A. Baldwin What passes for identity in America is a series of myths about one's heroic ancestors. James A. Baldwin heroicidentityamerica Our dehumanization of the Negro then is indivisible from our dehumanization of ourselves; the loss of our own identity is the price we pay for our annulment of his. James A. Baldwin diversitylossjustice People who remember court madness through pain, the pain of the perpetually recurring death of their innocence; people who forget court another kind of madness, the madness of the denial of pain and the hatred of innocence; and the world is mostly divided between madmen who remember and madmen forget. James A. Baldwin painhatredpeople I don't know, now, when I first looked at Hella and found her stale, found her body uninteresting, her presence grating. It seemed to happen all at once—I suppose that only means that it had been happening for a long time. James A. Baldwin bodylongmean There is no reason for you to try to become like white people and there is no basis whatever for their impertinent assumption that *they* must accept *you*. The really terrible thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them. And I mean that very seriously. You must accept them and accept them with love. James A. Baldwin whitemeanpeople I often wonder what I'd do if there weren't any books in the world. James A. Baldwin wonderbookworld Years ago, when he was around fourteen, he'd been all hipped on the idea of going to India. He read books about people sitting on rocks, naked, in all kinds of weather, but mostly bad, naturally, and walking barefoot through hot coals and arriving at wisdom. I used to say that it sounded to me as though they were getting away from wisdom as fast as they could. I think he sort of looked down on me for that. James A. Baldwin rocksbookthinking He leaned up a little and watched her face. Her face would now be, forever, more mysterious and impenetrable than the face of any stranger. Strangers' faces hold no secrets because the imagination does not invest them with any. But the face of a lover is an unknown precisely because it is invested with so much of oneself. It is a mystery, containing, like all mysteries, the possibility of torment. James A. Baldwin imaginationsecretforever People are too various to be treated so lightly. I am too various to be trusted. James A. Baldwin varioustreatedpeople There are too many things we do not wish to know about ourselves. James A. Baldwin wishknows Rage cannot be hidden, it can only be dissembled. This dissembling deludes the thoughtless, and strengthens rage and adds, to rage, contempt. James A. Baldwin rageangeradd Rage can only with difficulty, and never entirely, be brought under the domination of the intelligence, and therefore is not susceptible to any arguments whatsoever. James A. Baldwin argumentrageanger Experience is a private, very largely speechless affair. James A. Baldwin speechlessaffairexperience An identity would seem to be arrived at by the way in which the person faces and uses his experience. James A. Baldwin identityuseway The making of an American begins at the point where he himself rejects all other ties, any other history, and himself adopts the vesture of his adopted land. James A. Baldwin tieslandjustice Heavenly witnesses are a tricky lot, to be used by whoever is closest to Heaven at the time. And legend and theology, which are designed to sanctify our fears, crimes, and aspirations, also reveal them for what they are. James A. Baldwin legendscrimeheaven We cannot discuss the state of our minorities until we first have a sense of what we are, who we are, what our goals are, and what we take life to be. James A. Baldwin who-we-areminoritiesgoal My friend was about to introduce me when she looked at me and smiled and said, "Whose little boy are you?" James A. Baldwin african-americanlittlesboys Perhaps, as we say in America, I wanted to find myself. This is an interesting phrase, not current as far as I know in the language of any other people, which certainly does not mean what it says but betrays a nagging suspicion that something has been misplaced. I think now that if I had any intimation that the self I was going to find would turn out to be only the same self from which I had spent so much time in flight, I would have stayed at home. James A. Baldwin homemeanthinking ... every human being is an unprecedented miracle. James A. Baldwin unprecedentedmiraclehumans
