James Baldwin Quotes

So much of our lives is given over to the consideration of our imperfections that there is no time to improve our imaginary virtues. The truth is we only perfect our vices, and man is a worse creature when he dies than he was when he was born.

What a vile and abject thing is man if he do not raise himself above humanity.

Because the soul is progressive, it never quite repeats itself, but in every act attempts the production of a new and fairer whole.

The place to begin the task of eliminating evil is within yourself.

He who has made great moral progress ceases to pray

Religion is not about accepting twenty impossible propositions before breakfast, but about doing things that change you. It is a moral aesthetic, an ethical alchemy. If you behave in a certain way, you will be transformed.

God isn't keeping a record of each time we fall, but He is excited about our progress, and we should be excited, too!

God’s priority isn’t your destination but your development. God’s priority isn’t the dream but the dreamer.

Man is so perfectable and corruptible he can become a fool through good sense.

The real question is whether we can learn anything from our experiences upon which we may grow and help others to grow in the likeness and image of God. We know that if we rebel against doing that which is reasonably possible for us, then we will be penalized. And we will be equally penalized if we presume in ourselves a perfection that simply is not there. Apparently, the course of relative humility and progress will have to lie somewhere between these extremes. In our slow progress away from rebellion, true perfection is doubtless several millennia away

The test of progress is the amount of renunciation that one has attained.

Purification is never for the selfishly idle, it accrues only to the selflessly industrious.

Till we can become divine, we must be content to be human, lest in our hurry for change we sink to something lower.

None of us have yet seen an ideally perfect man, and yet without that ideal we cannot progress.

The main thing God gets out of your life is not the achievements you accomplish. It's the person you become.

Man lives only to learn. And if he learns it is because it is the nature of his lot, for good or bad.

Mercy can purge the soul of sin, making room for a fresh start. Truth is vital in order that we have an unvarying standard by which to determine what we are to be and to do and what we are to rid ourselves of. All the cardinal virtues, therefore, carry their own intrinsic as well as outward reward. A merciful man does do good to his own soul.

Deep thinkers who look everywhere for the mysterious causes of poverty, ignorance, crime and war need look no further than their own mirrors. We are all born into this world poor and ignorant, and with thoroughly selfish and barbaric impulses. Those of us who turn out any other way do so largely through the efforts of others, who civilized us before we got big enough to do too much damage to the world or ourselves.

People involve themselves in countless activities which they consider to be important, but they forget about one activity which is more important and necessary than any other, and which includes all other things: the improvement of their soul

The call to religion is not a call to be better than your fellows, but to be better than yourself. Religion is relative to the individual.

The more we grow in love and virtue and holiness, the more we see love and virtue and holiness outside. All condemnation of others really condemns ourselves. Adjust the microcosm (which is in your power to do) and the macrocosm will adjust itself for you. It is like the hydrostatic paradox, one drop of water can balance the universe.

We can become the masters of our own destinies by practicing self-discipline and by setting worthy goals that will lead to higher ground so that we can become what our heavenly father wants us to become.

Christlikeness is a journey, not a destination. The joy is in the journey.

The saved man is not a perfect man, but his heart's desire is to become perfect.