The Fire Next Time

by James Baldwin

whatever white people do not know about Negroes reveals, precisely and inexorably, what they do not know about themselves.

If the concept of God has any validity or any use, it can only be to make us larger, freer, and more loving. If God cannot do this, then it is time we got rid of Him.

How can one, however, dream of power in any other terms than in the symbols of power?

I do not mean to be sentimental about suffering—enough is certainly as good as a feast—but people who cannot suffer can never grow up, can never discover who they are.

It demands great spiritual resilience not to hate the hater whose foot is on your neck, and an even greater miracle of perception and charity not to teach your child to hate.