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James Weldon Johnson

James Weldon Johnson Quotes

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Famous James Weldon Johnson Quotes

“The Awakening I dreamed that I was a rose That grew beside a lonely way, Close by a path none ever chose, And there I lingered day by day. Beneath the sunshine and the show’r I grew and waited there apart, Gathering perfume hour by hour, And storing it within my heart, Yet, never knew, Just why I waited there and grew. I dreamed that you were a bee That one day gaily flew along, You came across the hedge to me, And sang a soft, love-burdened song. You brushed my petals with a kiss, I woke to gladness with a start, And yielded up to you in bliss The treasured fragrance of my heart; And then I knew That I had waited there for you.”

LovePoetrySoul Mate
Book:Complete Poems
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“I am a thing not new, I am as old As human nature. I am that which lurks, Ready to spring whenever a bar is loosed; The ancient trait which fights incessantly Against restraint, balks at the upward climb; The weight forever seeking to obey The law of downward pull; and I am more: The bitter fruit am I of planted seed; The resultant, the inevitable end Of evil forces and the powers of wrong.”

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Author:James Weldon Johnson
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“I finally made up my mind that I would neither disclaim the black race nor claim the white race; but that I would change my name, raise a mustache, and let the world take me for what it would; that it was not necessary for me to go about with a label of inferiority pasted across my forehead.”

WorldMindMadeNamesBlackWhiteRaceClaimsRaisesLabelsTake MeForeheadsInferiorityMustacheLynchingWhite RaceBlack Race
Book:The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
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“A great wave of humiliation and shame swept over me. Shame that I belonged to a race that could be so dealt with; and shame for my country, that it, the great example of democracy to the world, should be the only civilized, if not the only state on earth, where a human being would be burned alive.”

IfsWorldShouldHumansCountryStatesWould BeEarthHuman BeingsRaceDemocracyAliveExampleShameWaveCivilizedBurnedHumiliationLynching
Book:The Selected Writings of James Weldon Johnson: Social, political, and literary essays
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“I found cause to wonder upon what ground the English accuse Americans of corrupting the language by introducing slang words. I think I heard more and more different kinds of slang during my few weeks' stay in London than in my whole "tenderloin" life in New York. But I suppose the English feel that the language is theirs, and that they may do with it as they please without at the same time allowing that privilege to others.”

ThinkingFeelsKindMayDifferentWholeFoundLanguageCausesWonderHeardWeekNew YorkPleasePrivilegeLondonAllowingDifferent KindsIntroducingSlang
Book:The Essential Writings of James Weldon Johnson
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“Nothing great or enduring, especially in music, has ever sprung full-fledged and unprecedented from the brain of any master; the best he gives to the world he gathers from the hearts of the people, and runs it through the alembic of his genius.”

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Book:The Selected Writings of James Weldon Johnson: Social, political, and literary essays
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“A people may become great through many means, but there is only one measure by which its greatness is recognized and acknowledged. The final measure of the greatness of all peoples is the amount and standard of the literature and art they have produced.... No people that has produced great literature and art has ever been looked upon by the world as distinctly inferior.”

PeopleWorldMayMeanArtLiteratureGreatnessAmountStandardsFinalsInferiorsGreat LiteratureLiterature And Art
Author:James Weldon Johnson
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“The Southern whites are in many respects a great people. Looked at from a certain point of view, they are picturesque. If one will put oneself in a romantic frame of mind, one can admire their notions of chivalry and bravery and justice.”

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Book:The Selected Writings of James Weldon Johnson: Social, political, and literary essays
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“In the life of everyone there is a limited number of experiences which are not written upon the memory, but stamped there with a die; and in the long years after, they can be called up in detail, and every emotion that was stirred by them can be lived through anew; these are the tragedies of life.”

YearsLongDiesMemoriesNumbersEmotionWrittenTragedyDetails
Book:Slavery: Not Forgiven, Never Forgotten – The Most Powerful Slave Narratives, Historical Documents & Influential Novels: The Underground Railroad, Memoirs of Frederick Douglass, 12 Years a Slave, Uncle Tom's Cabin, History of Abolitionism, Lynch Law, Civil Rights Acts, New Amendments and much more
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“My love for my children makes me glad that I am what I am, and keeps me from desiring to be otherwise; and yet, when I sometimes open a little box in which I still keep my fast yellowing manuscripts, the only tangible remnants of a vanished dream, a dead ambition, a sacrificed talent, I cannot repress the thought, that after all I have chosen the lesser part, that I have sold my birthright for a mess of pottage”

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Book:James Weldon Johnson: The Autobiography of an Ex-Colored Man
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“Any musical person who has never heard a Negro congregation under the spell of religious fervor sing these old songs has missed one of the most thrilling emotions which the human heart may experience.”

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Book:The Selected Writings of James Weldon Johnson: Social, political, and literary essays
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“In Berlin I especially enjoyed the orchestral concerts, and I attended a large number of them. I formed the acquaintance of a good many musicians, several of whom spoke of my playing in high terms.”

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Book:The Selected Writings of James Weldon Johnson: Social, political, and literary essays
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