Try to imagine how you would feel if you woke up one morning to find the sun shining and all the stars aflame. You would be frightened because it is out of the order of nature. Any upheaval in the universe is terrifying because it so profoundly attacks one’s sense of one’s own reality. Well, the black man has functioned in the white man’s world as a fixed star, as an immovable pillar: and as he moves out of his place, heaven and earth are shaken to their foundation.
James Baldwin
Racial Inequality, Societal Change, Fear, Systemic Racism, Human Reality, Upheaval
James Baldwin’s Quotes On Topics
Necessity | Love And Ambition | Emotional Landscape | Emotional Devotion | Memory And Forgetting | Success Factors | Land And Identity | Emotional Complexity | Appearance | Shared Liberation | Inner Healing | Existential Struggle | Liberation | Circumstances | False Emotion | Disoriented Identity | National Critique | Suffering | Imagined Past | Self-Definition | More
More James Baldwin Quotes
“White people were, and are, astounded by the holocaust in Germany. They did not know that they could act that way. But I very much doubt whether black people were astounded – at least, in the same way.” James Baldwin
Racism, History, Trauma, Social Reflection, Human Behavior
James Baldwin Racism, History, Trauma, Social Reflection, Human Behavior“Do I really want to be integrated into a burning house?” James Baldwin
Racism, Society, Resistance, Injustice, Cultural Reflection, Harsh Reality
James Baldwin Racism, Society, Resistance, Injustice, Cultural Reflection, Harsh Reality“The breathing instruments inspire, Wake into voice each silent string, And sweep the sounding lyre! In a sadly pleasing strain, Let the warbling lute complain: Let the loud trumpet sound, Till the roofs all around The shrill echoes rebound; While in more lengthen’d notes and slow, The deep, majestic, solemn organs blow.” James Baldwin
Music, Emotional expression, Instrumental power, Artistic influence, Sound, Spiritual connection
James Baldwin Music, Emotional expression, Instrumental power, Artistic influence, Sound, Spiritual connection“From my own point of view, the fact of the Third Reich alone makes obsolete forever any question of Christian superiority, except in technological terms. White people were, and are, astounded by the holocaust in Germany. They did not know that they could act that way. But I very much doubt whether black people were astounded – at least, in the same way.” James Baldwin
Holocaust, Racial disparity, Christian superiority, Historical trauma, Human atrocity, Race relations
James Baldwin Holocaust, Racial disparity, Christian superiority, Historical trauma, Human atrocity, Race relations“In short, we, the black and the white, deeply need each other here if we are really to become a nation – if we really, that is, to achieve our identity, our maturity, as men and women. To create one nation has proved to be a hideously difficult task.” James Baldwin
Unity, National Identity, Racial Harmony, Maturity, Shared Humanity
James Baldwin Unity, National Identity, Racial Harmony, Maturity, Shared Humanity“Whatever white people do not know about Negroes reveals, precisely and inexorably, what they do not know about themselves.” James Baldwin
Ignorance, Race, Self-Reflection, Knowledge, Societal Mirror, Understanding
James Baldwin Ignorance, Race, Self-Reflection, Knowledge, Societal Mirror, Understanding“People can cry much easier than they can change.” James Baldwin
Emotion, Change, Human Nature, Resistance, Transformation, Vulnerability
James Baldwin Emotion, Change, Human Nature, Resistance, Transformation, Vulnerability“Ages ago, in another city, on another bus, I sat so at the windows, looking outward, inventing for each flying face which trapped my brief attention some life, some destiny, in which I played a part. I was looking for some whisper, or promise, of my possible salvation. But it seemed to me that morning that my ancient self had been dreaming the most dangerous dream of all.” James Baldwin
Dreams, Personal Salvation, Dangerous Thoughts, Observation, Reflection, Searching Souls
James Baldwin Dreams, Personal Salvation, Dangerous Thoughts, Observation, Reflection, Searching Souls“I can’t be a pessimist, because I am alive.” James Baldwin
Optimism, Resilience, Life and Hope, Positive Outlook, Living with Purpose
James Baldwin Optimism, Resilience, Life and Hope, Positive Outlook, Living with Purpose“If the word integration means anything, this is what it means that we, with love, shall force our brothers to see themselves as they are, to cease fleeing from reality and begin to change it.” James Baldwin
Integration, Love, Reality, Change, Brotherhood, Social Progress
James Baldwin Integration, Love, Reality, Change, Brotherhood, Social Progress“You don’t know what he means by friendship but you have the feeling it may not be safe. You are afraid it may change you. What kind of friendship have you had?” James Baldwin
Friendship, Trust, Fear of change, Personal growth, Vulnerability, Relationship dynamics
James Baldwin Friendship, Trust, Fear of change, Personal growth, Vulnerability, Relationship dynamics“There are too many things we do not wish to know about ourselves.” James Baldwin
Self-awareness, Denial, Personal truth, Inner conflict, Emotional barriers, Self-discovery
James Baldwin Self-awareness, Denial, Personal truth, Inner conflict, Emotional barriers, Self-discovery“And: the only way anything ever gets done is when you make up your mind to do it.” James Baldwin
Determination, Action, Focus, Productivity, Decision
James Baldwin Determination, Action, Focus, Productivity, Decision“The very time I thought I was lost, my dungeon shook and my chains fell off.” James Baldwin
Freedom's Liberation, Personal Struggle, Empowerment, Inner Awakening, Transformation, Life Crisis
James Baldwin Freedom's Liberation, Personal Struggle, Empowerment, Inner Awakening, Transformation, Life Crisis“Whatever you describe to another person is also a revelation of who you are and who you think you are. You can not describe anything without betraying your point of view, your aspirations, your fears, your hopes. Everything.” James Baldwin
Self-expression, Personal identity, Communication, Self-perception, Emotional vulnerability, Honesty
James Baldwin Self-expression, Personal identity, Communication, Self-perception, Emotional vulnerability, Honesty“Freedom lurked around us and I understood, at last, that he could help us be free if we would listen, that he would never be free until we did.” James Baldwin
Freedom, Understanding, Listening, Unity, Sacrifice, Shared Liberation
James Baldwin Freedom, Understanding, Listening, Unity, Sacrifice, Shared Liberation“Whoever is born in New York is ill-equipped to deal with any other city: all other cities seem, at best, a mistake, and, at worst, a fraud. No other city is so spitefully incoherent.” James Baldwin
New York, City Life, Identity, Comparison, Urban Life
James Baldwin New York, City Life, Identity, Comparison, Urban Life“The body in the mirror forces me to turn and face it. And I look at my body, which is under sentence of death. It is lean, hard, and cold, the incarnation of a mystery. And I do not know what moves in this body, what this body is searching. It is trapped in my mirror as it is trapped in time and it hurries toward revelation.” James Baldwin
Body, Mortality, Mysterious Search, Mirror Reflection, Life’s Sentence, Time And Self
James Baldwin Body, Mortality, Mysterious Search, Mirror Reflection, Life’s Sentence, Time And Self