James Baldwin — "I am not a category. I am a writer."

"The world is before you, and you need not take it, or suffer it, as it is, but can remake it, and remake yourself."

"One of the things that I think makes me a good writer is that I'm a good listener."

"The world changes according to the way people see it, and if you can alter, even a millimeter the way people see reality, then you can change the world."

"I imagine one of the reasons people cling to their hates so stubbornly is because they sense, once hate is gone, they will be forced to deal with pain."

"It is not a question of whether we will be free, but how we will use our freedom."