James Baldwin
(1924-1987)

African-American Author & Civil Rights Activist

birthdate: August 2
birthplace:
Harlem, New York

QUOTES

“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.”

Anyone who has ever struggled with poverty knows how extremely expensive it is to be poor.

"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."

Words like 'freedom', 'justice' and 'democracy' are not common concepts; on the contrary, they are rare. People are not born knowing what these are. It takes enormous, and above all, individual effort to arrive at the respect for other people that these words imply.

While the tale of how we suffer, and how we are delighted, and how we may triumph is never new, it always must be heard.

 

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