It seems to me that one ought to rejoice in the fact of death-- ought to decide, indeed, to earn one's death by confronting with passion the conundrum of life. One is responsible to life: It is the small beacon in that terrifying darkness from which we come and to which we shall return. One must negotiate this passage as nobly as possible, for the sake of those who are coming after us.
James A. BaldwinIf the relationship of father to son could really be reduced to biology, the whole earth would blaze with the glory of fathers and sons.
James A. BaldwinThe trick is to love somebody.... If you love one person, you see everybody else differently.
James A. BaldwinIt is a great shock at the age of five or six to find that in a world of Gary Coopers you are the Indian.
James A. Baldwin