I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.
Life is a system of half-truths and lies, Opportunistic, convenient evasion.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Life often involves navigating through both truths and falsehoods, where people may choose convenience over honesty.
This quote by Langston Hughes suggests that life is complex and often marked by a mix of truth and deception. It highlights the notion that individuals may resort to half-truths and lies as a way to escape reality or to avoid uncomfortable situations, choosing instead to live in a manner that is more opportunistic and convenient. The underlying message reflects the moral challenges people face in their everyday lives, prompting a reflection on the authenticity of their choices and actions.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a motivational speech about personal integrity, one might quote Hughes to emphasize the importance of honesty.
More from Langston Hughes
All quotes βMy writing has been largely concerned with the depicting of Negro life in America.
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.
An artist must be free to choose what he does, certainly, but he must also never be afraid to do what he might choose.
The calm, Cool face of the river, Asked me for a kiss
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.
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What is one man's life compared to the eternity of time and space? No more than a snowflake that glitters in the sun for a moment before melting into the flow of time.
All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers.
Does such a thing as 'the fatal flaw,' that showy dark crack running down the middle of a life, exist outside literature? I used to think it didn't. Now I think it does. And I think that mine is this: a morbid longing for the picturesque at all costs.