James Baldwin quotes - Page : 4

" 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. " # Immigration # America # History and Historians

" People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster. " # Innocence # Death and Dying # Reality

" If you're treated a certain way you become a certain kind of person. If certain things are described to you as being real they're real for you whether they're real or not. " # Institutions # Love # Marriage

" Rage cannot be hidden, it can only be dissembled. This dissembling deludes the thoughtless, and strengthens rage and adds, to rage, contempt. " # Anger # Love # Slavery

" The primary distinction of the artist is that he must actively cultivate that state which most men, necessarily, must avoid: the state of being alone. " # Arts and Artists # Critics and Criticism # Action

" The establishment of democracy on the American continent was scarcely as radical a break with the past as was the necessity, which Americans faced, of broadening this concept to include black men. " # Multiculturalism # Democracy # Money

" It is a very rare man who does not victimize the helpless. " # Persecution

" Pessimists are the people who have no hope for themselves or for others. Pessimists are also people who think the human race is beneath their notice, that they're better than other human beings. " # Pessimism # Hope # Optimism

" Anyone who has struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor. " # Poverty and The Poor

" But the relationship of morality and power is a very subtle one. Because ultimately power without morality is no longer power. " # Power # Relationships # Morality