James Arthur Baldwin Quotes

When the book comes out it may hurt you - but in order for me to do it, it had to hurt me first. I can only tell you about yourself as much as I can face about myself. - James Arthur Baldwin

When a man asks himself what is meant by action he proves that he isn't a man of action. Action is a lack of balance. In order to act you must be somewhat insane. A reasonably sensible man is satisfied with thinking. - James Arthur Baldwin

To defend one's self against fear is simply to ensure that one will, one day, be conquered by it; fears must be faced. - James Arthur Baldwin

To be sensual, I think, is to respect and rejoice in the force of life, of life itself, and to be present in all that one does, from the effort of loving to the making of bread. - James Arthur Baldwin

To act is to be committed, and to be committed is to be in danger. - James Arthur Baldwin

Those who say it can't be done are usually interrupted by others doing it. - James Arthur Baldwin

There is never time in the future in which we will work out our salvation. The challenge is in the moment; the time is always now. - James Arthur Baldwin

There are few things more dreadful than dealing with a man who knows he is going under, in his own eyes, and in the eyes of others. Nothing can help that man. What is left of that man flees from what is left of human attention. - James Arthur Baldwin

The young think that failure is the Siberian end of the line, banishment from all the living, and tend to do what I then did - which was to hide. - James Arthur Baldwin

The writer's greed is appalling. He wants, or seems to want, everything and practically everybody, in another sense, and at the same time, he needs no one at all. - James Arthur Baldwin

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