I've always believed that you can think positive just as well as you can think negative. James A. Baldwin on positive
It is certain, in any case, that ignorance, allied with power, is the most ferocious enemy justice can have. James A. Baldwin on power
The power of the white world is threatened whenever a black man refuses to accept the white world's definitions. James A. Baldwin on power
The only thing that white people have that black people need, or should want, is power-and no one holds power forever. James A. Baldwin on power
If 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. Baldwin on relationship
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 A. Baldwin on respect
The most dangerous creation of any society is the man who has nothing to lose. James A. Baldwin on society
The paradox of education is precisely this - that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated. James A. Baldwin on society
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 A. Baldwin on time
No one can possibly know what is about to happen: it is happening, each time, for the first time, for the only time. James A. Baldwin on time
I am what time, circumstance, history, have made of me, certainly, but I am also, much more than that. So are we all. James A. Baldwin on time
To be a Negro in this country and to be relatively conscious is to be in a rage almost all the time. James A. Baldwin on time
Every legend, moreover, contains its residuum of truth, and the root function of language is to control the universe by describing it. James A. Baldwin on truth
Love does not begin and end the way we seem to think it does. Love is a battle, love is a war love is a growing up. James A. Baldwin on war
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 A. Baldwin on work
Fires can't be made with dead embers, nor can enthusiasm be stirred by spiritless men. Enthusiasm in our daily work lightens effort and turns even labor into pleasant tasks. James A. Baldwin on work
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. James A. Baldwin on memorial day