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 βThe 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
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There is love in me the likes of which you've never seen. There is rage in me the likes of which should never escape. If I am not satisfied int he one, I will indulge the other.
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When he spoke, what tender words he used! So softly, that like flakes of feathered snow, They melted as they fell.
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You can give without loving, but you can never love without giving. The great acts of love are done by those who are habitually performing small acts of kindness. We pardon to the extent that we love. Love is knowing that even when you are alone, you will never be lonely again. & great happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved. Loved for ourselves. & even loved in spite of ourselves.
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My heart is the throne of the Beloved, the Beloved the heart's destiny: Whoever breaks another's heart will find no homecoming in this world or any other.
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Love is the sole impulse for creation; and the man who does not have it as the greatest incentive in his life has never developed the real creative instinct. No one can swing out into the Universal without love, for the whole universe is based upon it.
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My God,' he gasped, 'you're fun to kiss.
F. Scott FitzgeraldRead