A biography for Langston Hugheshasn’t been written yet.
“God in his infinite wisdomDid not make me very wise-So when my actions are stupidThey hardly take God by surprise.”
“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.”
“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:Ain't you heardsomething underneathlike a -What did I say?Sure,I'm happy!Take it away!Dream BoogieHey, pop!Re-bop!Mop!Y-e-a-h!”
“I stay cool, and dig all jive,That's the way I stay alive.My motto, as I live and learn, isDig and be dugIn return.”
“Writing is like travelling. It's wonderful to go somewhere, but you get tired of staying.”
“One of the great needs of Negro children is to have books about themselves and their lives that can help them be proud.”
“My writing has been largely concerned with the depicting of Negro life in America.”
“I will not take 'but' for an answer.”
“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.”
“Words Like FreedomThere are words like FreedomSweet and wonderful to say.On my heartstrings freedom singsAll day everyday.There are words like LibertyThat almost make me cry.If you had known what I knowYou would know why.”
“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.”
“Perhaps the mission of an artist is to interpret beauty to people - the beauty within themselves.”
“Pleasured equallyIn seeking as in finding,Each detail minding,Old Walt went seekingAnd finding.”
“The Jewish people and the Negro people both know the meaning of Nordic supremacy. We have both looked into the eyes of terror.”
“Humor is laughing at what you haven't got when you ought to have it.”
“I live in Harlem, New York City. I am unmarried. I like 'Tristan,' goat's milk, short novels, lyric poems, heat, simple folk, boats and bullfights; I dislike 'Aida,' parsnips, long novels, narrative poems, cold, pretentious folk, buses and bridges.”
“When peoples care for you and cry for you, they can straighten out your soul.”
“I will take your heart.I will take your soul out of your bodyAs though I were God.I will not be satisfiedWith the little words you say to me.I will not be satisfiedWith the touch of your handNor the sweet of your lips alone.I will take your heart for mine.I will take your soul.I will be God when it comes to you.”
“Hold fast to dreams,For if dreams dieLife is a broken-winged bird,That cannot fly.”