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

Langston Hughes

I did not believe political directives could be successfully applied to creative writing . . . not to poetry or fiction, which to be valid had to express as truthfully as possible the individual emotions and reactions of the writer.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Believe Creative Direction Politics Reaction Success Thinking Writing
The first of the month falls every month, too, North or South. And them white folks who sends bills never forgets to send them-the phone bill, the furniture bill, the water bill, the gas bill, insurance, house rent.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Fall Forget Home Insurance Phone
Misery is when you heard on the radio that the neighborhood you live in is a slum but you always thought it was home.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Home Live Misery Radio Thinking Yourself
Life is for the living. Death is for the dead. Let life be like music. And death a note unsaid.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Death Life Live Music Note
The past has been a mint Of blood and sorrow. That must not be True of tomorrow.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Blood Past Sorrow Tomorrow True
Keep your hand on the plow. Hold on.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Hands Hold On Yourself
What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or does it explode?
LANGSTON HUGHES

Dreams Explode Sun
Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Bird Break Death Deep Dreams Fast Fly Hold Life Wings
Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Head Kiss Rain Sing Yourself
If you want to honor me, give some young boy or girl who’s coming along trying to create arts and write and compose and sing and act and paint and dance and make something out of the beauties of the Negro race-give that child some help.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Beautiful Children Help Honor Man Race Respect Woman Writing Young
The depression brought everybody down a peg or two. And the Negroes had but few pegs to fall.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Alcohol Depression Fall
Politics in any country in the world is dangerous. For the poet, politics in any country had better be disguised as poetry. Politics can be the graveyard of the poet. And only poetry can be his resurrection.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Country Dangerous Grave Himself Poet Poetry Politics World
Let America be America, where equality is in the air we breathe.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Breathe Country Equality
Reach Up Your Hand… and take a star.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Hands Reach Star
LIBERTY! FREEDOM! DEMOCRACY! True anyhow no matter how many Liars use those words.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Democracy Freedom Liberty True Word
But there are certain very practical things American Negro writers can do. And must do. There’s a song that says, “the time ain’t long.” That song is right. Something has got to change in America-and change soon. We must help that change to come.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Change Difference Help Practical Time Transformation Writing

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

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

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