Welcome, lovers of rhythm, blues, and insightful words! We're about to dive into the deep, lyrical pool that is Langston Hughes's work. Born in 1902, Hughes was an artist, playwright, and most famously, a poet, and his words still resonate with us even after a century. Today, we are specifically bringing to you 50 rhythmic Langston Hughes quotes, selected to uplift, inspire, and touch your soul. So, grab a cup of coffee, sit back, and let the rhythm of his words sweep you away!
Hughes's work was more than just verses on paper; they were the heartbeat of the Harlem Renaissance, a time when Black arts flourished and shattered the silence. One riveting moment, still echoing in literary history, occurred in 1925. Hughes was working as a busboy at the Wardman Park Hotel when he slipped three of his poems under the plate of poet Vachel Lindsay. Lindsay was moved and shared the works with the world, leading Hughes to become a nationally recognized figure overnight. Prepare to dive into the rhythmic Langston Hughes quotes that continue to inspire and move the world today, just as they did in Lindsay's hands.
The First Ten Rhythmic Notes of Langston Hughes
1. “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”
2. “I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.”
3. “I swear to the Lord, I still can't see, why Democracy means, everybody but me.”
4. “Negroes – Sweet and docile, Meek, humble, and kind: Beware the day – They change their mind.”
5. “An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose.”
6. “What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?”
7. “Let America be America again. Let it be the dream it used to be.”
8. “I will not take ‘but' for an answer.”
9. “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.”
10. “Like a welcome summer rain, humor may suddenly cleanse and cool the earth, the air, and you.”
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Langston Hughes Echoes in the Twenties
- “I, too, sing America.”
- “Life is for the living. Death is for the dead. Let life be like music. And death a note unsaid.”
- “Good morning, daddy! Ain't you heard? The boogie-woogie rumble of a dream deferred.”
- “Freedom is a strong seed planted in a great need.”
- “When peoples care for you and cry for you, they can straighten out your soul.”
- “We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain free within ourselves.”
- “Words like freedom, Languages that give life, and if you have ears to hear it, sing the song of the river.”
- “Perhaps, Perhaps, Someday the sunrise will come, Who knows?”
- “I loved my friend. He went away from me. There's nothing more to say. The poem ends, Soft as it began.”
- “I’ve known rivers: I’ve known rivers ancient as the world and older than the flow of human blood in human veins.”
Hughes' Quotes in the Thirties
- “To fling my arms wide in some place of the sun, To whirl and to dance till the white day is done.”
- “A dream deferred is a dream denied.”
- “Out of love, No regrets— Though the goodness Be wasted forever.”
- “I look at my own body with eyes no longer blind and I see that my own hands can make the world that's in my mind.”
- “Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.”
- “Folks, I'm telling you, birthing is hard and dying is mean- so get yourself a little loving in between.”
- “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.”
- “Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.”
- “I am so tired of waiting. Aren't you, for the world to become good and beautiful and kind?”
- “We know we are beautiful. And ugly too.”
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Forties and Beyond
- “It's such a Bore Being always Poor.”
- “What's the use of money if you ain't gonna break the mold?”
- “I stuck my head out the window this morning and spring kissed me bang in the face.”
- “I catch the pattern of your silence before you speak. I do not need to hear a word.”
- “In time of silver rain the earth puts forth new life again.”
- “Wear it like a banner for the proud, not like a shroud.”
- “I do not need my freedom when I'm dead. I cannot live on tomorrow's bread.”
- “My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”
- “I did not believe political directives could be successfully applied to creative writing…not to poetry or fiction, which to be valid must mirror the truth.”
- “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.”
Echoes into Eternity
- “I tire so of hearing people say, let things take their course. Tomorrow is another day. I do not need my freedom when I'm dead. I cannot live on tomorrow's bread.”
- “They'll see how beautiful I am And be ashamed— I, too, am America.”
- “The night is beautiful, So the faces of my people.”
- “Love is a naked shadow On a gnarled and naked tree.”
- “Humor is laughing at what you haven't got when you ought to have it.”
- “I am the American heartbreak— The rock on which Freedom Stumped its toe.”
- “I'm so tired of waiting, aren't you, for the world to become good and beautiful and kind?”
- “Yet do I marvel at this curious thing: To make a poet black, and bid him sing!”
- “I have known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.”
- “For poems are like rainbows; they escape you quickly.”
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