“Many have given up. They stay home and watch the TV screen, living on the earnings of their parents, cousins, bothers, or uncles, and only leave the house to go to the movies or to the nearest bar. "How're you making it?" on may ask, running into them along the block, or in the bar. "Oh, I'm TV-ing it"; with the saddest, sweetest, most shamefaced of smiles, and from a great distance. This distance one is compelled to respect; anyone who has traveled so far will not easily be dragged again into the world. There are further retreats, of course, than the TV screen or the bar. There are those who are simply sitting on their stoops, "stoned," animated for a moment only, and hideously, by the approach of someone who may lend them the money for a "fix." Or by the approach of someone from whom they can purchase it, one of the shrewd ones, on the way to prison or just coming out.”
Quote by James Baldwin
Book:Nobody Knows My Name
Work
Nobody Knows My Name
Browse quotes and source details for this work. more
Author
You May Also Like
Source: No Longer Human
Source: The Dream of a Ridiculous Man
Source: Apathy and Other Small Victories
Source: The Brotherhood of the Grape
Source: Why We Love Dogs, Eat Pigs, and Wear Cows: An Introduction to Carnism
Source: Two Boys Kissing