I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.
Langston HughesRead
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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Jazz symbolizes the profound expression of African American life, reflecting both joy and struggle.
In this quote, Langston Hughes captures the essence of jazz music as an authentic expression of African American culture. He describes jazz as the heartbeat of the Negro experience, representing both the struggle against societal challenges and the ability to find joy and beauty in life despite adversity. It conveys the duality of laughter and pain, highlighting the resilience and creativity that emerge from a rich cultural heritage.
Themes
JazzNegro LifeExpressionResilienceCulture
In practice
Example use cases
During a presentation on the impact of jazz on American culture, this quote beautifully illustrates the connection between music and identity.
More from Langston Hughes
All quotes →My writing has been largely concerned with the depicting of Negro life in America.
Langston HughesRead
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 HughesRead
An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose.
Langston HughesRead
The calm, Cool face of the river, Asked me for a kiss
Langston HughesRead
The only way to get a thing done is to start to do it, then keep on doing it, and finally you'll finish it.
Langston HughesRead
Similar quotes
Being a writer is part of a noble tradition, as is being a musician – the last egalitarian and open associations. No matter what happens in terms of fame and fortune, dedication to writing is a marching-step forward from where you were before, when you didn’t care about reaching out to the world, when you weren’t hoping to contribute, when you were just standing there doing some job into which you had fallen.
Anne LamottRead
To be creative means to be in love with life. You can be creative only if you love life enough that you want to enhance its beauty, you want to bring a little more music to it, a little more poetry to it, a little more dance to it.
RajneeshRead
And its object is Art not power, sub-creation not domination and tyrannous re-forming of Creation.
J. R. R. TolkienRead
There is nothing harder to learn than painting and nothing which most people take less trouble about learning. An art school is a place where about three people work with feverish energy and everybody else idles to a degree that I should have conceived unattainable by human nature.
Gilbert K. ChestertonRead
TV is chewing gum for the eyes.
Frank Lloyd WrightRead
Poetry, above all is a series of intense moments its power is not in narrative. I'm not dealing with facts, I'm dealing_x000D_ with emotion.
Carol Ann DuffyRead