“I don’t see any American dream; I see an American nightmare.”
The Ballot or the Bullet (1964), Speech in Cleveland, Ohio (April 3, 1964)
Context: No, I’m not an American. I’m one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy. So, I’m not standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot, or a flag-saluter, or a flag-waver—no, not I. I’m speaking as a victim of this American system. And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I don’t see any American dream; I see an American nightmare.
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Malcolm X 180
American human rights activist 1925–1965Related quotes
“I see nightmares when I sleep and I dream about you when I'm awake.”
This quote is from "Pink" by "Rymin" and the original words are in Persian.
Source: https://soundcloud.com/rymiin/pink
“I have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.”
1960s, Cobo Center speech (1963)
Context: I go back to the South not with a feeling that we are caught in a dark dungeon that will never lead to a way out. I go back believing that the new day is coming. And so this afternoon, I have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream.
I have a dream that one day, right down in Georgia and Mississippi and Alabama, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to live together as brothers.
I have a dream this afternoon, I have a dream that one day, one day little white children and little Negro children will be able to join hands as brothers and sisters.
I have a dream this afternoon that one day, that one day men will no longer burn down houses and the church of God simply because people want to be free.
I have a dream this afternoon, I have a dream, that there will be a day that we will no longer face the atrocities that Emmett Till had to face or Medgar Evers had to face, that all men can live with dignity.
I have a dream this afternoon that my four little children, that my four little children will not come up in the same young days that I came up within, but they will be judged on the basis of the content of their character, not the color of their skin.
I have a dream this afternoon that one day right here in Detroit, Negroes will be able to buy a house or rent a house anywhere that their money will carry them and they will be able to get a job.
Yes, I have a dream this afternoon that one day in this land the words of Amos will become real and "justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream."
I have a dream this evening that one day we will recognize the words of Jefferson that "all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." I have a dream this afternoon.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and "every valley shall be exalted, and every hill shall be made low; the crooked places shall be made straight, and the rough places plain; and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together."
I have a dream this afternoon that the brotherhood of man will become a reality in this day.
And with this faith I will go out and carve a tunnel of hope through the mountain of despair. With this faith, I will go out with you and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. With this faith, we will be able to achieve this new day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing with the Negroes in the spiritual of old: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God almighty, we are free at last!"
“I have dreams, and I have nightmares. I overcame the nightmares because of my dreams.”
As quoted in Wisdom for the Soul: Five Millennia of Prescriptions for Spiritual Healing https://books.google.com/books?id=-T3QhPjIxhIC&lpg=PP1&dq=%22I%20have%20dreams%2C%20and%20I%20have%20nightmares.%20I%20overcame%20the%20nightmares%20because%20of%20my%20dreams.%22&pg=PA254#v=onepage (2006) by Larry Chang (page 254)
On Sigmund Freud, as quoted in Sigmund Says: And Other Psychotherapists' Quotes (2006) edited by Bernard Nisenholz, p. 6 ISBN 0595396593
“Tonight, may I get so drunk in love that
I do not see any dreams!”
<span class="plainlinks"> May I Not See Dreams http://learningandcreativity.com/may-i-not-see-dreams-poetry-month-special/</span>
From Poetry
“If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee.”
Songs and Sonnets (1633), The Good-Morrow
Context: p>I wonder, by my troth, what thou and I
Did, till we loved? Were we not weaned till then?
But sucked on country pleasures, childishly?
Or snorted we in the Seven Sleepers’ den?
’Twas so; but this, all pleasures fancies be.
If ever any beauty I did see,
Which I desired, and got, ’twas but a dream of thee. And now good-morrow to our waking souls,
Which watch not one another out of fear;
For love, all love of other sights controls,
And makes one little room an everywhere.
Let sea-discoverers to new worlds have gone,
Let maps to other, worlds on worlds have shown,
Let us possess one world, each hath one, and is one.My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears,
And true plain hearts do in the faces rest;
Where can we find two better hemispheres,
Without sharp north, without declining west?
Whatever dies, was not mixed equally;
If our two loves be one, or, thou and I
Love so alike, that none do slacken, none can die.</p
“I still have dreams. Politics without dreams - it would be a nightmare.”
Brexit: 'Dreamer' Tusk says UK may yet stay in the EU https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-40362594 BBC News (22 June 2017)
2011, 2017