The civilized have created the wretched, quite coldly and deliberately, and do not intend to change the status quo; are responsible for their slaughter and enslavement; rain down bombs on defenseless children whenever and wherever they decide that their "vital interests" are menaced, and think nothing of torturing a man to death: these people are not to be taken seriously when they speak of the "sanctity" of human life, or the "conscience" of the civilized world.

James A. Baldwin

Categorized in : Children Rain Taken

Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.

James A. Baldwin

change leadership inspirational

Ask any Mexican, any Puerto Rican, any black man, any poor person - ask the wretched how they fare in the halls of justice, and then you will know, not whether or not the country is just, but whether or not it has any love for justice, or any concept of it. It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have.

James A. Baldwin

ignorance men country

I can't believe what you say, because I see what you do.

James A. Baldwin

i-can inspirational believe

You have to decide who you are and force the world to deal with you, not with its idea of you.

James A. Baldwin

force world ideas

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.

James A. Baldwin

forgiveness pain encouragement

To be black and conscious in America is to be in a constant state of rage.

James A. Baldwin

black rage america

The purpose of education...is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions.

James A. Baldwin

decision education looks

It took many years of vomiting up all the filth I’d been taught about myself, and half-believed, before I was able to walk on the earth as though I had a right to be here.

James A. Baldwin

vomiting half years

For nothing is fixed, forever and forever, it is not fixed; the earth is always shifting, the light is always changing, the sea does not cease to grind down rock. Generations do not cease to be born, and we are responsible to them because we are the only witnesses they have. The sea rises, the light fails, lovers cling to each other and children cling to us. The moment we cease to hold each other, the moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.

James A. Baldwin

change acceptance children

If one really wishes to know how justice is administered in a country, one does not question the policemen, the lawyers, the judges, or the protected members of the middle class. One goes to the unprotected - those, precisely, who need the law's protection most! - and listens to their testimony.

James A. Baldwin

law class country

Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.

James A. Baldwin

ifs knows inspirational

I love America more than any other country in the world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.

James A. Baldwin

memorial-day inspirational country

People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction.

James A. Baldwin

eye reality people

The American idea of racial progress is measured by how fast I become white.

James A. Baldwin

progress white ideas

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.

James A. Baldwin

roles artist love-you

We are responsible for the world in which we find ourselves, if only because we are the only sentient force which can change it.

James A. Baldwin

philanthropy charity world

One cannot deny the humanity of another without diminishing one's own.

James A. Baldwin

deny humanity

You write in order to change the world ... if you alter, even by a millimeter, the way people look at reality, then you can change it.

James A. Baldwin

change writing reality

Trust life, and it will teach you, in joy and sorrow, all you need to know.

James A. Baldwin

sorrow joy needs

I'm not interested in anybody's guilt. Guilt is a luxury that we can no longer afford. I know you didn't do it, and I didn't do it either, but I am responsible for it because I am a man and a citizen of this country and you are responsible for it, too, for the very same reason... Anyone who is trying to be conscious must begin to dismiss the vocabulary which we've used so long to cover it up, to lie about the way things are.

James A. Baldwin

responsibility country lying