Langston Hughes citations

“Hold fast to dreams
for if dreams die
life is a broken-winged bird
that can not fly.

Hold fast to dreams
for when dreams go
life is a barren field
frozen with snow.”

“Life is for the living.
Death is for the dead.
Let life be like music.
And death a note unsaid.”

“I loved my friend
He went away from me
There's nothing more to say
The poem ends,
Soft as it began-
I loved my friend.”

“Folks, I'm telling you,
birthing is hard
and dying is mean-
so get yourself
a little loving
in between.”

“The calm, Cool face of the river, Asked me for a kiss”

“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.”

“Oh, God of Dust and Rainbows,
Help us to see
That without the dust the rainbow
Would not be.”

“7 x 7 + love = An amount Infinitely above: 7 x 7 - love.”

“Negroes
Sweet and docile,
Meek, humble, and kind:
Beware the day
They change their minds!

Wind
In the cotton fields,
Gentle breeze:
Beware the hour
It uproots trees!”

“O, let my land be a land where Liberty
Is crowned with no false patriotic wreath,
But opportunity is real, and life is free,
Equality is in the air we breathe.”

“Way Down South in Dixie
(Break the heart of me)
They hung my black young lover
To a cross roads tree.”

“Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.”

“I went down to the river,
I set down on the bank.
I tried to think but couldn't,
So I jumped in and sank.”

“Humor is laughing at what you haven't got when you ought to have it.”

“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?”

“I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.”

“You are white —
yet a part of me, as I am a part of you.”

“The steel of freedom does not stain.
From those who live like leeches on the people's lives,
We must take back our land again,
America!”

“Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.
I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
or records — Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like
the same things other folks like who are other races.”

“I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.”

“Looks like what drives me crazy
Don't have no effect on you--
But I'm gonna keep on at it
Till it drives you crazy, too.”

“I stay cool, and dig all jive,
That's the way I stay alive.
My motto,
as I live and learn,
is
Dig and be dug
In return.”

“Though you may hear me holler,
And you may see me cry--
I'll be dogged, sweet baby,
If you gonna see me die.”

“So since I'm still here livin',
I guess I will live on.
I could've died for love--
But for livin' I was born.”

“I swear to the Lord
I still can't see
Why Democracy means
Everybody but me.”

“To some people
Love is given,
To others
Only Heaven.”

“I've known rivers:
I've known rivers ancient as the world and older than the
flow of human blood in human veins.
My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”

“Gather out of star-dust,
Earth-dust,
Cloud-dust,
Storm-dust,
And splinters of hail,
One handful of dream-dust,
Not for sale.”

“… the only way to get a thing done is to start to do it, then keep on doing it, and finally you'll finish it,….”