Notes of a Native Son

by James Baldwin

the things which hurt him and the things which helped him cannot be divorced from each other;

I love to argue with people who do not disagree with me too profoundly,

I love America more than any other country in the world, and, exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually.

I think all theories are suspect, that the finest principles may have to be modified, or may even be pulverized by the demands of life, and that one must find, therefore, one’s own moral center and move through the world hoping that this center will guide one aright.