“You have to be a minor superhero just to get to be a dignified man, and that's kind of exacerbated for men of color.” Quote by John Edgar Wideman
“My father combined many of the elements that were feared in the culture, but also he was a warm figure, a figure we needed. We depended on him to give us a little bit of strength and courage.” GivingLittlesCultureFatherBitsFiguresNeededElementsLittle BitWarm Author:John Edgar Wideman
“My mother loved my father. From my view, she let him get away with too much. It broke my heart to see him in an old people's home and stop being strong and lose his voice.” PeopleHeartHomeMotherFatherStrongVoiceLosesViewsToo MuchMy HeartBrokeGet AwayOld PeopleBroke My Heart Author:John Edgar Wideman
“That split is inside all Americans. There are contradictions inside all of us about color and race. We've learned to cover them up and live with them and pretend that deep cleavage is not there. We all bear that illness.” RaceColorBearsIllnessContradictionSplitsCleavage Author:John Edgar Wideman
“I'm not a fearful person, but I'm a pretty pessimistic person. So some of my best times are waiting, anticipating. That's the way it always has been with me, whether anticipating a ball game, anticipating a relationship.” WayPersonsHas BeensGamesWaitingBallsFearfulPessimisticBest TimesBall Games Author:John Edgar Wideman
“I get off on anticipating and waiting much more than I get off on the actual event.” WaitingEvents Author:John Edgar Wideman
“When I'm writing, I'm thinking, "Well, this might be a book that I'll always be happy with, and certainly readers will be happy with." But another part of me knows that when I'm past the stage of writing, the book is gonna have good things about it, bad things about it - probably more bad than good. I just know that. That's who I am.” ThinkingKnowsWritingWellsBookMightPastStageReaderGood ThingsWho I AmBad ThingsAlways Be Happy Author:John Edgar Wideman
“Our thoughts, our language, are always at a distance from whatever they're trying to describe. We have other kinds of languages, like mathematics, like music, like art, but there's always that gap.” TryingKindArtLanguageMathematicsDistanceGapsOur Thoughts Author:John Edgar Wideman
“We're dreamers and - since we only have one life, and if we screw up we can get in a world of trouble - we're very intense dreamers.” IfsWorldTroubleIntenseDreamerScrewsScrew Ups Author:John Edgar Wideman
“That's the beauty and the terror of being human beings: We just have these symbolic languages, these dreams, and that's all it ever is.” HumansDreamLanguageHuman BeingsTerrorBeing HumanSymbolic Author:John Edgar Wideman