Quotes by Langston Hughes

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

“Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.I like to work, read, learn, and understand life.”

“Oh, God of Dust and Rainbows,Help us to seeThat without the dust the rainbowWould not be.”

“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.”

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

“Yet the ivory gods, And the ebony gods, And the gods of diamond-jade, Are only silly puppet gods That people themselves Have made.-”

“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.”

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

“LIBERTY! FREEDOM! DEMOCRACY!True anyhow no matter how manyLiars use those words.”

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

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

“Hold fast to dreamsfor if dreams dielife is a broken-winged birdthat can not fly.Hold fast to dreamsfor when dreams golife is a barren fieldfrozen with snow.”

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”

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

“Cheap little rhymesA cheap little tuneAre sometimes as dangerousAs a sliver of the moon.”

“Out of love,No regrets--Though the goodnessBe wasted forever.Out of love,No regrets--Though the returnBe never.”

“Pleasured equallyIn seeking as in finding,Each detail minding,Old Walt went seekingAnd finding.”

“What happens to a dream deferred?”

“Good morning, daddy!Ain't you heardThe boogie-woogie rumbleOf a dream deferred?Listen closely:You'll hear their feetBeating out and beating out a -You thinkIt's a happy beat?Listen to it closely:Ai...”

“God in his infinite wisdomDid not make me very wise-So when my actions are stupidThey hardly take God by surprise.”