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.
Similar quotes
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How can a man be so brave and so stupid, so gentle and so cruel, so warming and so detestable -- all at the same time?
I don't blame the average seventeen-year-old punk-rock kid for calling me a sellout. I understand that. And maybe when they grow up a little bit, they'll realize there's more things to life than living out your rock & roll identity so righteously.
Woe to him who saw no more sense in his life, no aim, no purpose, and therefore no point in carrying on.
You see, it's actually very good that a human activity is performed very close to death, because that's where life is. Life is, at its most valuable and most full, very close to the boundary of life.
It was like certain dinners I remember from the war. There was much wine, an ignored tension, and a feeling of things coming that you could not prevent happening. Under the wine I lost the disgusted feeling and was happy. It seemed they were all such nice people.