Yesterday I was delighted to have the opportunity to spend an hour with my friend Daniel, talking about our lives, my travel plans, and more. At one point, I made the comment that life is a terminal condition. Daniel replied with the following quote:
Perhaps the whole root of our trouble, the human trouble, is that we will sacrifice all the beauty of our lives, will imprison ourselves in totems, taboos, crosses, blood sacrifices, steeples, mosques, races, armies, flags, nations, in order to deny the fact of death, the only fact we have. It seems to me that one ought to rejoice in the fact of death–ought to decide, indeed, to earn one’s death by confronting with passion the conundrum of life.
– James Baldwin, The Fire Next Time
I like this. I think I need to find this book, based on this quote alone.
Comments
4 responses to “Confronting With Passion”
Great book. I read it a long time ago.
Very happy we got to spend time together, Stuart.
As am I, my friend. Thanks for making the time for it.
I’ve got Baldwin’s Collected Essays. If you haven’t gotten yourself a copy by the time you return to this coast you can borrow it. I’m not familiar with that particular quote but it sounds like it’s probably from “Down At The Cross: Letter from a Region in my Mind”.
It’s a powerful collection. I haven’t finished reading it yet — every so often I have to put it down for awhile because it’s blown my mind again. This is a good reminder to pick it back up again.
I’m glad you and Daniel got to spend time together, too. Two of my favorite people; oh, to have been a fly on the wall… :)