Quotes from Langston Hughes

An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose

I asked you, baby, If you understood- You told me that you didn't, But you thought you would.

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

Good morning, Revolution: You're the very best friend I ever had. We gonna pal around together from now on

We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.

Certainly there is, for the American Negro artist who can escape the restrictions the more advanced among his own group would put upon him, a great field of unused material ready for his art.

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

Even the 'Negro' shows like 'Amos and Andy' and 'Beulah' are written largely by white writers - the better to preserve the stereotypes, I imagine.

Very early in life, it seemed to me that there was a relationship between the problems of the Negro people in America and the Jewish people in Russia, and that the Jewish people's problems were worse than ours.

There is no color line in art.

I will not take "but" for an answer.

Let the rain sing you a lullaby.

For my best poems were all written when I felt the worst. When I was happy, I didn't write anything.

I was a victim of a stereotype. There were only two of us Negro kids in the whole class, and our English teacher was always stressing the importance of rhythm in poetry. Well, everybody knows - except us - that all Negroes have rhythms, so they elected me class poet.

I stay cool, and dig all jive, That's the way I stay alive. My motto, as I live and learn, is Dig and be dug In return.

Violent anger makes me physically ill.

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.

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

My soul has grown deep like the rivers.

Let America be America, where equality is in the air we breathe.

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

Democracy will not come Today, this year Nor ever Through compromise and fear.

We younger Negro artists who create now intend to express our individual dark-skinned selves without fear or shame. If white people are pleased we are glad. If they aren?t it doesn?t matter.