Precisely at the point when you begin to develop a conscience you must find yourself at war with your society.
James A. BaldwinBut the relationship of morality and power is a very subtle one. Because ultimately power without morality is no longer power.
James A. BaldwinI had never before thought of how awful the relationship must be between the musician and his instrument. He has to fill it, this instrument, with the breath of life, his own. He has to make it do what he wants it to do. And a piano is just a piano. It's made out of so much wood and wires and little hammers and big ones, and ivory. While there's only so much you can do with it, the only way to find this out is to try; to try and make it do everything.
James A. BaldwinThe world tends to trap you in the role you play and it is always extremely hard to maintain a watchful, mocking distance between oneself as one appears to be and oneself as one actually is.
James A. Baldwin