“This is the only real concern of the artist, to recreate out of the disorder of life that order which is art.”

— James Baldwin, "Autobiographical Notes" (1952), in Notes of a Native Son (1955)

About James Baldwin

1924 – 1987

American novelist and essayist, author of "Notes of a Native Son".

“Not everything that is faced can be changed. But nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

“Everything depends on how relentlessly one forces from this experience the last drop, sweet or bitter, it can possibly give.”

“All art is a kind of confession, more or less oblique.”

“Art is the triumph over chaos.”

“You can't use up creativity. The more you use, the more you have.”

“The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science.”

“Make good art.”

“If the world were clear, art would not exist.”

“Art is not the possession of the few who are recognized writers, painters, musicians; it is the authentic expression of any and all individuality.”