Thursday, January 24, 2008

The Great Danger



"The great danger," Richard told Sartre, "in the world today is that the very feeling and conception of what is a human being might well be lost."


Richard Wright to Jean-Paul Sartre, In Richard Wright - By Constance Webb

8 comments:

Geoffrey Philp said...

Stephen, thank you for this. I've been thinking about this subject, but I didn't have the right angle. Look for a post on this and a link.
This is great!

Rethabile said...

The man said "might be." If he were alive today, he'd probably say "is." Unfortunately.

All-Mi-T [Thought Crime] Rawdawgbuffalo said...

you know it is also in cllection of letters by RW...great pic BTW

Stephen A. Bess said...

Thanks everyone. I saw this quote and it really just sent me into deep thought. Rethabile, I agree that he would say this differently in 2008. The 5 o'clock News alone would make him think twice.

BronzeBuckaroo said...

Wright is one of the most complicated black writers within the cannon of American literature. I don't mean in terms of his craft. Rather, in terms of whatever was going on inside himself, he was complicated.

changeseeker said...

I think this idea is one of the reasons I became a sociologist. Thanks for the reminder. Nice photo, too.

NML/Natalie said...

Great pic and I agree with 'rethabile' that it's more like "is" lost. We're out of touch and disconnected.

Stephen A. Bess said...

Bronze-
Yes, this was especially true when it came to the relationship he had with James Baldwin.

Change-
It's one of the reasons I'm so interested in Sociology. Thanks.

NML-
Unfortunately. Good to see you. How is the little pretty one? :)

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