Quotes from Langston Hughes

Gather up In the arms of your love— Those who expect No love from above.

Suddenly the sun was up. It sparkled like a dewy foam across the field of weeds. Master Sun! Honor and respect, Master Sun! We black men greet you with a swirl of hoes snatching bright sparks of fire from the sky.

I have, personally, the greatest respect for sincere religionists, but none whatsoever for professional racketeers in religion, nor for those who use religion as an anti-labor, anti-Semitic, anti-Negro, anti-democratic weapon for thwarting the progress of the common man or minorities among them.

I am a Negro and I know, being dark, I have been due in the past to see dark days, but them days is passing. All the fiery crosses in the world is not going to scare me back into where I were before the Harlem riots, Martin Luther King, Adam Powell, and Malcolm X. Also, I might include that lady, Annie Lee Cooper, who hit Sheriff Clark in the eye in Alabama. When a Southern colored woman hits a Southern white sheriff in the eye in a public place like Selma, a new day has come.

I would like to see an America where people of any race, color or creed may live on a plane of cultural, material well-being, cooperating unhindered by sectarian, racial, or factional prejudices that do nobody any good.

I never felt so lonesome Since I was born black.

Well, I was looking for Justice," said Simple. "I was tired." "Tired of what?" "Of hearing the radio talking about the Four Freedoms all day long during the war and me living in Harlem where nary one of them freedoms worked--nor the ceiling prices either.

Nature has a way Of not caring much About marriage Licenses and such

Them cool green leaves Is waitin' to shelter me O, little tree!

I learnt that 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, even if in the beginning you think you can't do it at all.

When a woman wants to get ahead, she cannot tie a millstone to her feet. Most men is millstones.

To sit and dream, to sit and read, To sit and learn about the world Outside our world of here and now-- Our problem world-- To dream of vast horizons of the soul Through dreams made whole, Unfettered, free--help me! All you who are dreamers, too, Help me to make Our world anew. I reach out my dreams to you.

They could not understand that there is some few people in the world who do good without being asked. It were a hot day, I were a little boy, and ice-cream cones are always good. And that man just looked at me and thought I would like one--which I did. That is one reason why I do not hate all white folks today because some white folks will do good without being asked or hauled up before the Supreme Court to have a law promulgated against them.

Who said I want to go to war? If I do, it ain't the same war the President wants to go to. No, sir, I been hanging on a rope in Alabama too long.

Once more The guns roar. Once more The call goes forth for men. Again The war begins. Again False slogans become a bore. Yet no one cries: Enough! No more! Like angry dogs the human race Loves the snarl upon its face. It loves to kill. The pessimist says It always will. That I do not believe. Some day The savage in us will wear away. Some day quite clearly Men will see How clean and happy life can be And how, Like flowers planted in the sun, We, too, can give forth blossoms, Shared by everyone.

The night is beautiful, So the faces of my people. The stars are beautiful, So the eyes of my people. Beautiful, also, is the sun. Beautiful, also, are the souls of my people.

As I Grew Older - 1901-1967 It was a long time ago. I have almost forgotten my dream. But it was there then, In front of me, Bright like a sun,— My dream. And then the wall rose, Rose slowly, Slowly, Between me and my dream. Rose slowly, slowly, Dimming, Hiding, The light of my dream. Rose until it touched the sky,— The wall. Shadow. I am black. I lie down in the shadow. No longer the light of my dream before me, Above me.

What shall I tell my children?...You tell me- 'Cause freedom ain't freedom when a man ain't free.

I've known rivers: Ancient, dusky rivers. My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

God to Hungry Child Hungry child, I didn't make this world for you. You didn't buy any stock in my railroad, You didn't invest in my corporation. Where are your shares in standard oil? I made the world for the rich And the will-be-rich And the have-always-been-rich. Not for you, Hungry child.

Song For a Dark Girl Way Down South in Dixie ?(Break the heart of me) They hung my black young lover ?To a cross roads tree. Way Down South in Dixie ?(Bruised body high in air) I asked the white Lord Jesus ?What was the use of prayer. Way Down South in Dixie ?(Break the heart of me) Love is a naked shadow ?On a gnarled and naked tree.

I loved my friend. He went away from me. There's nothing more to say. The poems ends, Soft as it began— I loved my friend. —Langston Hughes

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

Serve—and hate will die unborn. Love—and chains are broken.