Quotessence
Home / Quotes / Quote by Zora Neale Hurston

Quote by Zora Neale Hurston

Work

Mules and Men

Browse quotes and source details for this work. more

Author

Zora Neale Hurston
Zora Neale Hurston

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960) was an American anthropologist, folklorist, and novelist who played a pivotal role in the Harlem Renaissance. Born in Alabama and raised in Eatonville, Florida, she became the first African American student at Barnard College, Columbia University, studying under Franz Boas. Hurston is best known for her novel "Their Eyes Were Watching God," now considered a classic of American literature. She conducted extensive anthropological fieldwork in the American South and Caribbean, preserving African American folk traditions. Though largely forgotten after her death, her work was revived by Alice Walker in the 1970s, establishing her as a foundational figure in African American literature and anthropology. more

You May Also Like

“God let down two bundles 'bout five miles down de road. So de white man and de n****r raced to see who would git there first. Well, de n****r out-run de white man and grabbed de biggest bundle. He was so skeered de white man would git it away from him he fell on top of de bundle and hollered back: "Oh, Ah got here first and dis biggest bundle is mine." De white man says: "All right, Ah'll take yo' leavings," and picked up de li'l tee-ninchy bundle layin' in de road. When de n****r opened up his bundle he found a pick and shovel and a hoe and a plow and chop-axe and then de white man opened up his bundle and found a writin'-pen and ink. So ever since then de n****r been out in de hot sun, usin' his tools and de white man been sittin' up figgerin', ought's a ought, figger's a figger; all for de white man, none for de n****r.”

“Freedom thus depends on collective action rather than individual will, and this is what makes it political. Though freedom is, by account, a relational practice, it is not a zero-sum game in which the more one has, the less another can enjoy. Freedom considered as a matter of individual self-determination or self-sovereignty is reduced to a solipsistic phenomenon. Rather, as a world-building practice, freedom is a social--and hence necessarily political--endeavor.”

“I wanna be sure you know that, at any juncture, if you think I am a distraction to the work of the office or unnecessary baggage, I do not want to be here. I’d want to go. I’d want to do what is necessary for the success of our mission.” Mueller started nodding. He could now see where all my meandering was headed, and he was uninterested in taking the ride. “Are you done?” he said. I nodded. “Well,” he said, “you needn’t worry. If I have to fire you, I won’t be considering your feelings on the matter—at all.”

“You can turn your hand to anything, you clever girl, so do come and give me some advice, for I am in the depths of despair," said Fanny, when the "maid-of-all-work," as Polly called herself, found a leisure hour. "What is it? Moths in the furs, a smokey chimney, or small-pox next door?" asked Polly as they entered Fan's room, where Maud was trying on old bonnets before the looking glass. "Actually I have nothing to wear," began Fan impressively.”