James Baldwin wrote many books with a brilliant perspective and offered us wise counsel on the state of social responsibility and human behavior. What’s bittersweet about advice is sometimes you never appreciate it for what it’s worth until the person who gave it to you is no longer with you. In the name of Baldwin and reflection, we are are highlighting some of his sound instruction.
“I love America more than any other country in this world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.”
“I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain.”
“Color is not a human or a personal reality; it is a political reality.”
“There is no reason for you to try to become like white people and there is no basis whatever for their impertinent assumption that *they* must accept *you*. The really terrible thing, old buddy, is that you must accept them. And I mean that very seriously. You must accept them and accept them with love.”
“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.”
“Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”
“Know from whence you came. If you know whence you came, there are absolutely no limitations to where you can go.”
What’s YOUR favorite JB quote?
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"...I have one of those VERY LOUD, stupid laughs. If I ever sat behind myself in a movie I'd probably lean over and tell myself to please shut up." - Author, JD Salinger
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