# Quote — James Baldwin, Just Above My Head

> Close up, the person's imperfections matter, but from far away, you see your own.

- Author: [James Baldwin](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-baldwin.md)
- Book: [Just Above My Head](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-baldwin/just-above-my-head.md)
- Source: [Wikiquote](https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/James_Baldwin#Just_Above_My_Head_(1979)) ([CC BY-SA 4.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/))
- Quote page: https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-baldwin/just-above-my-head/close-up-the

## More from this book

> "...but you were never really white in the first place. Nobody is. Nobody has, even, ever wanted to be white, unless they are afraid of being black. But being black is nothing to be afraid of. I knew that before I met you, and I have learned it again, through you. Perhaps being white is not a conceivable condition, but a terrifying fantasy, a moral choice.”

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-baldwin/just-above-my-head/but-you-were.md)

> It is not merely that the rain falls differently on each of you, for that can be a wonder and a joy: it is that what is rain for the one is not rain for the other.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-baldwin/just-above-my-head/it-is-not.md)

> Passion is terrifying, it can rock you, change you, bring your head under, as when a wind rises from the bottom of the sea, and you're out there in the craft of your mortality, alone.

[Quote page](https://www.leafyquotes.com/james-baldwin/just-above-my-head/passion-is-terrifying.md)