It is dangerous to be an American Negro male. America has never wanted its Negroes to be men, and does not, generally, treat them as men. It treats them as mascots, pets, or things.
James A. BaldwinRead
The face of a lover is an unknown, precisely because it is invested with so much of oneself. It is a mystery, containing, like all mysteries, the possibility of torment.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The face of a lover represents deep emotional investment and mystery, which can lead to both joy and pain.
James A. Baldwin explores the complexity of love, emphasizing that the beloved's face symbolizes an intimate connection filled with personal emotions and vulnerabilities. This profound investment in love can make the beloved seem enigmatic, creating a sense of mystery that can evoke both passion and potential suffering.
Themes
LoveMysteryEmotionsConnectionInvestment
In practice
Example use cases
In a wedding speech to express the depth of my feelings for my partner.
More from James A. Baldwin
All quotes →The white man discovered the Cross by way of the Bible, but the black man discovered the Bible by way of the Cross.
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Those kids aren't dumb. But the people who run these schools want to make sure they don't get smart: they are really teaching the kids to be slaves.
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Experience, which destroys innocence, also leads one back to it.
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The reason people think it's important to be white is that they think it's important not to be black.
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The trick is to love somebody.... If you love one person, you see everybody else differently.
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The unicorn was white, with hoofs of silver and graceful horn of pearl... The glorious thing about him was his eye. There was a faint bluish furrow down each side of his nose, and this led to the eye sockets, and surrounded them in a pensive shade. The eyes, circled by this sad and beautiful darkness, were so sorrowful, lonely, gentle and nobly tragic, that they killed all other emotions except love.
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Harry, despite your privileged insight into Voldemort’s world (which, incidentally, is a gift any Death Eater would kill to have), you have never been seduced by the Dark Arts, never, even for a second, shown the slightest desire to become one of Voldemort’s followers!” “Of course I haven’t!” said Harry indignantly. “He killed my mum and dad!” “You are protected, in short, by your ability to love!” said Dumbledore loudly.
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