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James A. Baldwin Quotes about Literature

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American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.

American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.

James A. Baldwin
Beautiful, Literature, American History
"James Baldwin’s Lesson for Teachers in a Time of Turmoil" by Clint Smith, www.newyorker.com. September 23, 2017.

When one begins to live by habit and by quotation, one has begun to stop living.

James A. Baldwin
Literature, Habit, Live By

No people come into possession of a culture without having paid a heavy price for it.

James A. Baldwin
People, Culture, Literature

To act is to be committed, and to be committed is to be in danger.

James A. Baldwin
Literature, Danger, Committed
"A Letter to My Nephew" by James Baldwin, progressive.org. January 1, 1962.

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

James A. Baldwin
Country, African American, Literature
"A race riot forever changed my city. Hollywood only told half the story" by Bankole Thompson, www.theguardian.com. August 28, 2017.

The noblest spirit is most strongly attracted by the love of glory.

James A. Baldwin
Love, Ambition, Literature

Most of us are about as eager to change as we were to be born, and go through our changes in a similar state of shock.

James A. Baldwin
Change, Literature, Human Nature
"As Much Truth As One Can Bear". The New York Times Book Review, January 14, 1962.

Any writer, I suppose, feels that the world into which he was born is nothing less than a conspiracy against the cultivation of his talent.

James A. Baldwin
Writing, Editors, Literature
"Notes of a Native Son". Book by James A. Baldwin, archive.nytimes.com. 1955.

Every legend, moreover, contains its residuum of truth, and the root function of language is to control the universe by describing it.

James A. Baldwin
Truth, Roots, Literature

The questions which one asks oneself begin, at least, to illuminate the world, and become one's key to the experience of others.

James A. Baldwin
Keys, Diversity, Literature

I want to be an honest man and a good writer.

James A. Baldwin
Honesty, Men, Literature
"Notes of a Native Son". Book by James A. Baldwin, archive.nytimes.com. 1955.

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