It’s not so easy to go on to the balcony unless of course that’s what you want. As it turned out, that isn’t what I want. The great terror of public speaking is that you begin to listen to yourself. By and by, since you are always telling people what to think, you begin to forget what you do to think. And the moment that happens, of course, it’s over. It’s over.

James Baldwin (1924-1987) American novelist, playwright, activist

Interview (1965-07), “Race, Hate, Sex, and Colour: A Conversation,” with Colin MacInnes and James Mossman, Encounter, BBC Two TV
    (Source)

On fame and the increased calls for him to speak and lecture rather than write.

Transcribed in Vol. 25, issue 1 of Encounter magazine (1965-07). I cannot narrow down if it was the episode on 8 or 22 July. (Some sources suggest the 18 February episode; the July date may just come from the magazine version.)