I've learned that my people are not the only ones oppressed... I have sung my songs all over the world and everywhere found that some common bond makes the people of all lands take to Negro songs as their own.
Paul RobesonRead
We [must] realize that our future lies chiefly in our own hands.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our future is primarily determined by our own actions and decisions.
This quote emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility and agency in shaping our future. It suggests that while external factors may influence our circumstances, it is ultimately our choices and efforts that define the path we take in life.
Themes
FutureResponsibilityChoiceAgencySelf-Determination
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal development, you could say, 'As Paul Robeson wisely noted, our future lies in our own hands.'
More from Paul Robeson
All quotes βWe ask for nothing that is not ours by right, and herein lies the great moral power of our demand.
Paul RobesonRead
My mother was born in your state, Mr. Walter, and my mother was a Quaker, and my ancestors in the time of Washington baked bread for George Washington's troops when they crossed the Delaware, and my own father was a slave.
Paul RobesonRead
The intolerance of the few, or the risk of it, carries the day against the wider humanity of the many.
Paul RobesonRead
I shall take my voice wherever there are those who want to hear the melody of freedom
Paul RobesonRead
And at home in the United States we found continued and increased persecution, first of leaders of the Communist Party, and then of all honest anti-fascists.
Paul RobesonRead
Similar quotes
It is disgraceful to live at the cost of one's self-respect. Self-respect is the most vital factor in life. Without it, man is a cipher. To live worthily with self-respect, one has to overcome difficulties. It is out of hard and ceaseless struggle alone that one derives strength, confidence and recognition.
B. R. AmbedkarRead
People who believe they have the power to exercise some measure of control over their lives are healthier, more effective and more successful than those who lack faith in their ability to effect changes in their lives.
Albert BanduraRead
We do not write in order to be understood; we write in order to understand.
Cecil Day-LewisRead
The role of the Guru is to show the person that he already has what he is looking for.
Alan WattsRead
probably the greatest concentration of talent and genius in this house except for perhaps those times when Thomas Jefferson ate alone.
John F. KennedyRead
Her curiosity instructed her more than the answers she was given.
Clarice LispectorRead