James Baldwin Quotes

I asked myself, 'What are you going to do with your life? Are you going to be like everyone else or are you going to do what's right?' I just made a decision. I said, 'It's time to grow up. It's time to start living for the Lord, do things the right way.' I accepted the Lord, and it changed my life.

Changing the world begins with the very personal process of changing yourself, the only place you can begin is where you are, and the only time you can begin is always now.

I'm on a missionary journey to become the best version of myself.

Only one person in a million becomes enlightened without a teacher's help.

No great inner event befalls those who summon it not.

There has already been the karmic work: that what life has transformed in me, this initiation brought on, of necessity, by trials.

To him who, though by no means near the end, is yet advancing, He is the way; to him who has put off all that is dead He is the life.

I saw Krishnamurti speak one time. And I thought, I'm not going to live here.

Sometimes I attract roles that are necessary either for personal growth or enlightenment.

Our own self-realization is the greatest service we can render the world.

You can't have a physical transformation until you have a spiritual transformation.

The spiritual life is not a life before, after, or beyond our everyday existence. No, the spiritual life can only be real when it is lived in the midst of the pains and joys of the here and now.

The first step toward finding God, Who is Truth, is to discover the truth about myself: and if I have been in error, this first step to truth is the discovery of my error.

Everybody wants to get enlightened but nobody wants to change.

Work is spiritual. It is a place where we have the opportunity for spiritual growth. Often, these opportunities come from the 'how' of the ways we do our work rather than the 'what' of the work itself.

We will not find the inner strength to evolve to a higher level if we do not inwardly develop this profound feeling that there is something higher than ourselves.

Since 2005, I have been on a steadfast journey inward as a self-proclaimed Spirit Junkie. And I've never looked back.

The man who is deeply discontented with himself is probably growing fast into the full likeness of Christ.

I do believe that the outward and the inward life correspond; that if any should succeed to live a higher life, others would not know of it; that difference and distance are one. To set about living a true life is to go on a journey to a distant country, gradually to find ourselves surrounded by new scenes and men; and as long as the old are around me, I know that I am not in any true sense living a new or a better life.

If you could envision the type of person God intended you to be, you would rise up and never be the same again.

Spiritual transformation is not a matter of trying harder, but of training wisely.

We never become truly spiritual by sitting down and wishing to become so. You must undertake something so great that you cannot accomplish it unaided.

The beginning of the way to heaven, is to feel that we are on the way to hell.

For most people, spiritual awakening is a gradual process. Rarely does it happen all at once. When it does, though, it is usually brought about by intense suffering.

When I look back on my life-and an extraordinary transformation is happening again to me right now - I describe it as my “point of observation” is moving. It is moving because my range of frequencies I am accessing is becoming greater. It’s not because I’m something special because anyone can do it.