James Baldwin, "An interview with James Baldwin", (1961).

Now, it is true that the nature of society is to create, among its citizens, an illusion of safety; but it is also absolutely true that the safety is always necessarily an illusion. Artists are here to disturb the peace.

— James Baldwin on Safety

What It Means

This is a placeholder explanation generated by the low-overhead model. It interprets "Now, it is true that the nature of society is to create, among its citizens, an illusion of safety; but it is also absolutely true that the safety is always necessarily an illusion. Artists are here to disturb the peace." in the context of "James Baldwin, "An interview with James Baldwin", (1961)." to mean that wisdom is timeless.

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Source: Wikiquote: "Safety" (Quotes) The 'What it means' explanation text was generated by Google Gemini Flash (accessed January 18, 2026). https://gemini.google.com/app
James Baldwin

About James Baldwin

James Arthur Baldwin (2 August 1924 – 1 December 1987) was an American novelist, short story writer, playwright, essayist, and social critic.