“Jazz, to me, is one of the inherent expressions of Negro life in America: the eternal tom-tom beating in the Negro soul - the tom-tom of revolt against weariness in a white world, a world of subway trains, and work, work, work; the tom-tom of joy and laughter, and pain swallowed in a smile.”
"I swear to the Lord I still can’t see why democracy means everybody but me."
- Langston Hughes
Awareness
"Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly."
- Langston Hughes
Hope
""The very idea of a bird is a symbol and a suggestion to the poet. A bird seems to be at the top of the scale, so vehement and intense his life ... The beautiful vagabonds, endowed with every grace, masters of all climes, and knowing no bounds—how many human aspirations are realized in their free, holiday-lives—and how many suggestions to the poet in their flight and song!""
- Langston Hughes
Inspiration
"What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun?"
- Langston Hughes
Adversity
"Cheap little rhymes, a cheap little tune, are sometimes as dangerous as a sliver of the moon."
- Langston Hughes
Creativity
"Don’t look at your feet to see if you are doing it right. Just dance."
- Anne Lamott
Joy
"Tuesdays are for chasing rainbows and dancing in the rain."
Joy
"You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; you have loosed my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness."
Joy
"Taste and see how good the Lord is! The one who takes refuge in him is truly happy!"
Joy
"The joy of brightening other lives becomes for us the magic of the holidays."
- W. C. Jones
Joy