"There may not be, you know, as much humanity in the world as one would like to see, but there is some. There's more than one would think. In any case, if you... if you break faith with what you know... that's a betrayal of many, many, many, many people. I may know six people, but that's enough. Love has never been a popular movement and no-one's ever wanted really to be free. The world is held together, really it is, held together, by the love and the passion of a very few people. Otherwise, of course you can despair. Walk down the street of any city, any afternoon, and look around you. What you've got to remember is what you're looking at is also you. Everyone you're looking at is also you. You could be that person. You could be that monster, you could be that cop. And you have to decide, in yourself, not to be. The logic of despair isn't for me. Cut your throat, right? But there's something wrong, you know, with someone who says he's in despair who keeps on writing. Because a despairing man doesn't write. Anyway, it's too easy, it's too fashionable. I'm aware, you know, that I and the people I love may perish in the morning. I know that. But there's light on our faces now. If you live under the shadow of death, it gives you a certain freedom." - Meeting the Man: James Baldwin in Paris (1970)