Well,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. BaldwinI am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am also, much more than that. So are we all.
James A. BaldwinI'm not interested in anybody's guilt. Guilt is a luxury that we can no longer afford. I know you didn't do it, and I didn't do it either, but I am responsible for it because I am a man and a citizen of this country and you are responsible for it, too, for the very same reason... Anyone who is trying to be conscious must begin to dismiss the vocabulary which we've used so long to cover it up, to lie about the way things are.
James A. BaldwinWhen youโre writing, youโre trying to find out something which you donโt know. The whole language of writing for me is finding out what you donโt want to know, what you donโt want to find out. But something forces you to anyway.
James A. Baldwin