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

Langston Hughes

Negro blood is sure powerful, because just one drop of black blood makes a colored man. One drop–you are a Negro! . . . Black is powerful.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Acceptance Black Blood Inspirational Powerful
Peace We passed their graves: The dead men there, Winners or losers, Did not care. In the dark They could not see Who had gained The victory.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Death Grave Man Peace Victory
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
Let the rain sing you a lullaby.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Rain Sing Song
That Justice is a blind goddess Is a thing to which we black are wise: Her bandage hides two festering sores That once perhaps were eyes.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Black Eyes Hide Justice
For my best poems were all written when I felt the worst. When I was happy, I didn’t write anything.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Best Feeling Happiness Myself Poem Worst Writing
Folks, I’m telling you, birthing is hard and dying is mean- so get yourself a little loving in between.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Born Death Hard Love Yourself
Go home and write / a page tonight. / And let that page come out of you – / Then, it will be true.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Home Page Poet True Writing Yourself
Life dosent frighten me at all.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Fear Life Myself One Liner Scare
We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Build Freedom Mountain Ourselves Stand Strong Temple
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
Road’s in front o’ me, Nothin’ to do but walk.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Myself Road Walk
I tire so of hearing people say, Let things take their course. Tomorrow is another day. I do not need my freedom when I’m dead. I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Course Death Freedom Live Myself People
We Negro writers, just by being black, have been on the blacklist all our lives. Censorship for us begins at the color line.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Beginning Black Live Oppression Ourselves Poet Writing
Beauty for some provides escape, who gain a happiness in eyeing the gorgeous buttocks of the ape or Autumn sunsets exquisitely dying.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Beautiful Death Escape Happiness
My seeking has been to explain and illuminate the Negro condition in America and obliquely that of all human kind.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Condition Explanation Human Kind Seek
A dream deferred is a dream denied.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Dreams One Liner
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
Keep your hand on the plow. Hold on.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Hands Hold On Yourself
This morning I paid seventy cents for two little old dried-up slivers of bacon and one cockeyed egg. It took me till noon to get my appetite back.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Hungry Morning Myself Price
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
Pleasured equally In seeking as in finding, Each detail minding, Old Walt went seeking And finding.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Detail Happiness Pleasure Search Seek
Everything there is but lovin’ leaves a rust on your old soul.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Leaving Love Old Soul Yourself
Everybody should take each other as they are, white, black, Indians, Creole. Then there would be no prejudice, nations would get along.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Care Different Each Other Ethnicity Nation Togetherness Unity
Life is an egg you have to be patient and careful with it or it will break.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Break Care Life Patience Perspective
One of the great difficulties about being a member of a minority race is that so many kindhearted, well-meaning bores gather around to help.
LANGSTON HUGHES

Difficult Greatness Help Minority Race
I dream a world… where wretchedness will hang its head and joy, like a pearl, attends the needs of all mankind. Of such I dream, my world!
LANGSTON HUGHES

Dreams Head Kind Man Myself World

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

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

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