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100 Awesome Quotes By James Baldwin, The Author Of Go Tell It On The Mountain

Famous As: Author Best Known for His Novel 'Go Tell It on the Mountain'
Born On: August 2, 1924
Died On: December 1, 1987
Born In: Harlem, New York, United States
Died At Age: 63

James Baldwin was an American writer, who caught the attention of the readers with his novels, essays and plays that beautifully decoded the intricacies of the Western society. Though there was racial, sexual and class distinction that was prevalently present in the Western society at the time of Baldwin, not many could transform the same into their transcripts. Baldwin’s works, as such, were novel and unique as he perfectly explored the palpable yet unspoken truth. He also brought to light some fundamental personal questions that remained unanswered amid social and psychological pressures. ‘Notes of a Native Son’ was the magnum opus of his career that provided black experience in America. He followed it up with ‘Nobody Knows My Name’ which became a bestseller and sold more than a million copies. Some of his other works that gained immense limelight were ‘The Fire Next Time’, ‘Another Country’, ‘No Name in the Street’ and ‘The Devil Finds Work’. He was insightful and iconic as a writer and eloquently spoke of the pain and struggle of black Americans. He also turned out as the leading voice in Civil Rights Movement. Baldwin’s belief is also seen in his quotes that reflect his ideology and philosophy. Check some of the quotes by James Baldwin.

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Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.

Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war; love is a growing up.

James Baldwin
You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.

You think your pain and your heartbreak are unprecedented in the history of the world, but then you read.

James Baldwin
Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.

Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.

James Baldwin
Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.

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

James Baldwin
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.

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 Baldwin
Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition.

Perhaps home is not a place but simply an irrevocable condition.

James Baldwin
Freedom is not something that anybody can be given. Freedom is something people take, and people are as free as they want to be

Freedom is not something that anybody can be given. Freedom is something people take, and people are as free as they want to be

James Baldwin
People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead.

People pay for what they do, and still more for what they have allowed themselves to become. And they pay for it very simply; by the lives they lead.

James Baldwin
Love takes off the masks we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.

Love takes off the masks we fear we cannot live without and know we cannot live within.

James Baldwin
All art is a kind of confession, more or less oblique. All artists, if they are to survive, are forced, at last, to tell the whole story; to vomit the anguish up.

All art is a kind of confession, more or less oblique. All artists, if they are to survive, are forced, at last, to tell the whole story; to vomit the anguish up.

James Baldwin
People can cry much easier than they can change.

People can cry much easier than they can change.

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

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

James Baldwin
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.

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

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

James Baldwin
The paradox of education is precisely this - that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.

The paradox of education is precisely this - that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated.

James Baldwin
It is very nearly impossible to become an educated person in a country so distrustful of the independent mind.

It is very nearly impossible to become an educated person in a country so distrustful of the independent mind.

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

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

James Baldwin
The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.

The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose.

James Baldwin
True rebels after all, are as rare as true lovers,and in both cases, to mistake a fever for passion can destroy one's life

True rebels after all, are as rare as true lovers,and in both cases, to mistake a fever for passion can destroy one's life

James Baldwin
To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.

To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time.

James Baldwin
Everybody's journey is individual. If you fall in love with a boy, you fall in love with a boy. The fact that many Americans consider it a disease says more about them than it does about homosexuality.

Everybody's journey is individual. If you fall in love with a boy, you fall in love with a boy. The fact that many Americans consider it a disease says more about them than it does about homosexuality.

James Baldwin
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.

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 Baldwin
There are so many ways of being despicable it quite makes one’s head spin. But the way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people’s pain.

There are so many ways of being despicable it quite makes one’s head spin. But the way to be really despicable is to be contemptuous of other people’s pain.

James Baldwin
People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned.

People who treat other people as less than human must not be surprised when the bread they have cast on the waters comes floating back to them, poisoned.

James Baldwin
The victim who is able to articulate the situation of the victim has ceased to be a victim: he or she has become a threat.

The victim who is able to articulate the situation of the victim has ceased to be a victim: he or she has become a threat.

James Baldwin
You don’t have a home until you leave it and then, when you have left it, you never can go back.

You don’t have a home until you leave it and then, when you have left it, you never can go back.

James Baldwin
People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state on innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.

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

James Baldwin
Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity

Please try to remember that what they believe, as well as what they do and cause you to endure does not testify to your inferiority but to their inhumanity

James Baldwin
Nothing is more desirable than to be released from an affliction, but nothing is more frightening than to be divested of a crutch.

Nothing is more desirable than to be released from an affliction, but nothing is more frightening than to be divested of a crutch.

James Baldwin
Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others doing it.

Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others doing it.

James Baldwin