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James Baldwin on Writing

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“You write in order to change the world, knowing perfectly well that you probably can't, but also knowing that literature is indispensable to the world...”
#537
James Baldwin

More from James Baldwin

“One writes out of one thing only - one's own experience.”
#538
James Baldwin
“This is the only real concern of the artist, to recreate out of the disorder of life that order which is art.”
#539
James Baldwin
“Any writer, I suppose, feels that the world into which he was born is nothing less than a conspiracy against the cultivation of his talent.”
#540
James Baldwin
“If you are going to be a writer there is nothing I can say to stop you; if you're not going to be a writer nothing I can say will help you. What you really need at the beginning is somebody to let you know that the effort is real.”
#541
James Baldwin
“When you're writing you're trying to find out something which you don't know.”
#542
James Baldwin
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Focus Saved In my younger and more vulnerable years years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” He didn’t say any more, but we’ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgements, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores. | The Great Gatsby Chapter I Words 106 Writing Time 00:18:20 / 00:30:00 Speed 342 words/hour
In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I’ve been turning over in my mind ever since. “Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone,” he told me, “just remember that all the people in this world haven’t had the advantages that you’ve had.” He didn’t say any more, but we’ve always been unusually communicative in a reserved way, and I understood that he meant a great deal more than that. In consequence, I’m inclined to reserve all judgements, a habit that has opened up many curious natures to me and also made me the victim of not a few veteran bores. | The Great Gatsby 12:46:32 Chapter I 106 W 00:18:20