But, when the chips are down, its better to be furious with someone you love, or frightened for someone you love, than be put through the merciless horror of being ashamed of someone you love.
James A. BaldwinTo accept oneโs past โ oneโs history โ is not the same thing as drowning in it; it is learning how to use it. An invented past can never be used; it cracks and crumbles under the pressures of life like clay in a season of drought.
James A. BaldwinWe cannot discuss the state of our minorities until we first have some sense of what we are, who we are, what our goals are, and what we take life to be. The question is not what we can do now for the hypothetical Mexican, the hypothetical Negro. The question is what we really want out of life, for ourselves, what we think is real.
James A. BaldwinWell,โ I said, โParis is old, is many centuries. You feel, in Paris, all the time gone by. That isnโt what you feel in New York โ โHe was smiling. I stopped. โWhat do you feel in New York?โ he asked. โPerhaps you feel,โ I told him, โall the time to come. Thereโs such power there, everything is in such movement. You canโt help wonderingโI canโt help wonderingโwhat it will all be likeโ many years from now.
James A. Baldwin