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
Tell me, he said, "What is this thing about time? Why is it better to be late than early? People are always saying, we must wait, we must wait. what are they waiting for?" "Well […] I guess people wait in order to make sure of what they feel." "And when you have waited—-has it made you sure?
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote explores the nature of time and the reasons behind waiting, questioning if waiting leads to certainty in feelings.
James A. Baldwin's quote delves into the philosophical inquiry of time and the human tendency to wait for clarity in emotions. It prompts the reader to reflect on the reasons people postpone actions or decisions, suggesting that the act of waiting itself may not necessarily provide the certainty or understanding that individuals seek, encouraging a deeper examination of how we navigate our feelings and choices in life.
Themes
TimeWaitingFeelingsCertaintyPhilosophy
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech discussing decision-making, one might quote Baldwin to emphasize the importance of understanding the motivation behind waiting.
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.
James A. BaldwinRead
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.
James A. BaldwinRead
Experience, which destroys innocence, also leads one back to it.
James A. BaldwinRead
The reason people think it's important to be white is that they think it's important not to be black.
James A. BaldwinRead
The trick is to love somebody.... If you love one person, you see everybody else differently.
James A. BaldwinRead
Similar quotes
There are people who so arrange their lives that they feed themselves only on side dishes.
Jose Ortega Y GassetRead
But nobody ever forgot anything, not really, though sometimes they pretended, when it suited them. Memories were permanent. Sorrowful ones remained sad even with the passing of time, yet happy ones could never be recreated - not with the same joy. Remembering bred its own peculiar sorrow. It seemed so unfair: that time should render both sadness and happiness into a source of pain.
Rohinton MistryRead
I think it's too easy to recount your unhappy memories when you write about yourself. You bask in your own innocence. You revere your grief. You arrange your angers at their most becoming angles.
Margo JeffersonRead
Grace finds us beggars but leaves us debtors.
Augustus TopladyRead
It was, of course, a lie what you read about my religious convictions, a lie which is being systematically repeated. I do not believe in a personal God and I have never denied this but have expressed it clearly. If something is in me which can be called religious then it is the unbounded admiration for the structure of the world so far as our science can reveal it.
Albert EinsteinRead
All vital truth contains the memory of all that for which it is not true.
D. H. LawrenceRead