787 Quotes by James Baldwin

Then the door is before him. There is darkness all around him, there is silence in him. Then the door opens and he stands alone, the whole world falling away from him. And the brief corner of the sky seems to be shrieking, though he does not hear a sound. Then the earth tilts, he is thrown forward on his face in darkness, and his journey begins.

You were born where you were born and faced the future that you faced because you were black and for no other reason. The limits of your ambition were, thus, expected to be set forever. You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, that you were a worthless human being. You are not expected to aspire to excellence: you were expected to make peace with mediocrity.

It is quite possible to say that the price a Negro pays for becoming articulate is to find himself, at length, with nothing to be articulate about. ("You taught me language," says Caliban to Prospero, "and my profit on't is I know how to curse.")

The hope of the world lies in what one demands, not of others, but of oneself.

Goddammit to hell, I'm sick of it. Can't I get a place to sleep without dragging it through the courts? I'm goddamn tired of battling every Tom, Dick, and Harry for what everyone else takes for granted. I'm tired!

I've begun this letter five times and torn it up five times.

Because I was raised in a Christian culture I never considered myself to be a totally free human being.

Quando due persone si amano, quando si amano davvero, tutto quello che succede tra loro ha qualcosa di rituale. Certe volte può sembrare che vengano separati uno dall’altro: non conosco nessun maggior tormento, nessun vuoto più fragoroso – Quando il tuo amante è andato via! Ma quella sera, con i nostri voti così misteriosamente minacciati ed entrambi, sia pure da angoli diversi, messi di fronte a questo fatto, eravamo più profondamente uniti di quanto fossimo mai stati.

The South is very beautiful but its beauty makes one sad because the lives that people live, and have lived here, are so ugly that now they cannot even speak to one another. It does not demand much reflection to be appalled at the inevitable state of mind achieved by people who dare not speak freely about those things which most disturb them.