The primary distinction of the artist is that he must actively cultivate that state which most men, necessarily, must avoid the state of being alone. – James Baldwin
No one is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart: for his purity, by definition, is unassailable. – James Baldwin
The making of an American begins at the point where he himself rejects all other ties, any other history, and himself adopts the vesture of his adopted land. – James Baldwin
Confronted with the impossibility of remaining faithful to ones beliefs, and the equal impossibility of becoming free of them, one can be driven to the most inhuman excesses. – James Baldwin