“What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?”
"Harlem"
Montage of a Dream Deferred (1951)
Context: What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Or fester like a sore —
And then run?
Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over —
like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load. Or does it explode?
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Langston Hughes79
American writer and social activist 1902–1967Related quotes
“A dream deferred is a dream denied.”
Rachel Cohn (1968) American writer
Source: Dash & Lily's Book of Dares
“He felt like an old sponge steeped in paraffin and left in the sun to dry.”
Douglas Adams book Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
Source: Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
“There’s a certain
amount of traveling
in a dream deferred.”
Langston Hughes (1902–1967) American writer and social activist
"Same in Blues"
Montage of a Dream Deferred (1951)
Variant: A certain amount
of nothing
in a dream deferred.
“Dry sun, dry wind;
Safe bind, safe find.”
Thomas Tusser (1524–1580) English poet
Washing, reported in Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, 10th ed. (1919). Compare: "Than catch and hold while I may, fast binde, fast finde", John Heywood, Proverbes, Part I, Chapter III; "Fast bind, fast find; A proverb never stale in thrifty mind", William Shakespeare, Merchant of Venice, act ii. sc. 5.
“Dream within a dream,
Our dream deferred.
Good morning, daddy!
Ain’t you heard?”
Langston Hughes (1902–1967) American writer and social activist
"Island"
Montage of a Dream Deferred (1951)
Variant: What happens
to a dream deferred?
Daddy, ain’t you heard?
“Defer not till tomorrow to be wise,
Tomorrow's sun to thee may never rise.”
William Congreve (1670–1729) British writer
"Letter to Cobham", line 61. Compare: "Be wise to-day, 't is madness to defer", Edward Young, Night Thoughts, Night i. line 390
Pedro Calderón de la Barca Life is a Dream
¿Qué os espanta,
si fue mi maestro un sueño,
y estoy temiendo, en mis ansias,
que he de despertar y hallarme
otra vez en mi cerrada
prisión? Y cuando no sea,
el soñarlo sólo basta;
pues así llegué a saber
que toda la dicha humana,
en fin, pasa como sueño.
Segismundo, Act III, l. 1114.
La vida es sueño (Life is a Dream)
George Washington Plunkitt (1842–1924) New York State Senator
Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, Chapter 1, Honest Graft and Dishonest Graft
“Good evening, daddy
I know you’ve heard
The boogie-woogie rumble
Of a dream deferred”
Langston Hughes (1902–1967) American writer and social activist
"Boogie: 1 a.m."
Montage of a Dream Deferred (1951)