Top 7 Ernest J. Gaines Quotes

American author (1933–2019)

Ernest James Gaines (January 15, 1933 – November 5, 2019) was an African-American author whose books include The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman, A Lesson Before Dying, and A Gathering of Old Men.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Alternative Names: Ernest Gaines • Ernest James Gaines

From Wikidata (CC0)

I was never threatened…I never knew anyone who was lynched. But there was subtle racism every day of my life. You could not speak to a white man unless he spoke to you first. On the sidewalk, I’d have to move so a white person could walk by.

All writers write about the past, and I try to make it come alive so you can see what happened.

When people hear stories, they identify more closely with the characters. When I read aloud, people always come up to me and say, “I understand it much better now that I’ve heard you read it. I can hear the characters’ voices much clearer…”

In dialogue, I’m dealing with the sounds I’ve heard. One of the reasons I often write from first person or multiple points of view is to hear the voices of different characters. Omniscient narration becomes a problem because, for me, the omniscient is my own voice narrating the story and then bringing in characters for dialogue.

I would think a faith in God is one thing. I think that if we could change the whole world and keep the land is another thing. Change things yet keep keep the relationship is another thing.

I think I'm a very religious person. I think I believe in God as much as any man does. I don't only believe in God, I know there's God.

King is probably one of three men of this century that I'll call heroic. A fantastic man as far as I'm concerned, for all that he did.