I know why the caged bird sings, ah me, When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,- When he beats his bars and would be free; It is not a carol of …

- Paul Laurence Dunbar

A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in. A minute to smile and an hour to weep in. A pint of joy to a peck of trouble, And never a laugh but the mo…

- Paul Laurence Dunbar

The age is materialistic. Verse isn't. I must be with the age, so I am writing prose.

- Paul Laurence Dunbar

Only the rich are lonesome.

- Paul Laurence Dunbar

A song fluttered down in the form of a dove, And it bore me a message, the one word-Love!

- Paul Laurence Dunbar

A minute to smile and an hour to weep in, A pint of joy to a peck of trouble, And never a laugh but the moans come double; And that is life!

- Paul Laurence Dunbar

..we wear the mask that grins and lies, it hides our cheeks and shades our eyes- this debt we pay to human guile; with torn and bleeding hearts we sm…

- Paul Laurence Dunbar

What Joe Hamilton lacked more than anything else in the world was some one to kick him. Many a man who might have lived decently and become a fairly …

- Paul Laurence Dunbar

With our short sight we affect to take a comprehensive view of eternity. Our horizon is the universe.

- Paul Laurence Dunbar