I don't know, now, when I first looked at Hella and found her stale, f…

James A. Baldwin
288 citations
I don't know, now, when I first looked at Hella and found her stale, found her body uninteresting, her presence grating. It seemed to happen all at once—I suppose that only means that it had been happening for a long time.
Time
20

More Author Quotes

A person does not lightly elect to oppose his society. One would much rather be at home among one's compatriots than be mocked and detested by them. And there is a level on which the mockery of peopl … ▶
People can cry much easier than they can change. ✨ James Baldwin Back Home by Robert Coles, archive.nytimes.com. July 31, 1977.
Most of us are about as eager to change as we were to be born, and go through our changes in a similar state of shock. ✨ As Much Truth As One Can Bear. The New York Times Book Review, January 14, 196 … ▶
Nobody is more dangerous than he who imagines himself pure in heart; for his purity, by definition, is unassailable. ✨ The Black Boy Looks at the White Boy. Esquire Magazine, May 1961.
Americans should never come to Europe,' she said, and tried to laugh and began to cry, 'it means they never can be happy again. What's the good of an American who isn't happy? Happiness was all we ha … ▶

I don't know, now, when I first looked at Hella and found her stale, found her body uninteresting, her presence grating. It seemed to happen all at once—I suppose that only means that it had been happening for a long time.

More Author Quotes

Most Cited Authors

The Best Quotes

Most Liked Authors

Curated Author Quotes