“My motto, As I live and learn, is: Dig And Be Dug In Return.”

— Langston Hughes, "Motto", Montage of a Dream Deferred, 1951

About Langston Hughes

1901 – 1967

American poet and writer of the Harlem Renaissance, known for poems such as 'The Negro Speaks of Rivers' and 'Harlem'.

“Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.”

“For poems are like rainbows; they escape you quickly.”

“There are lots of different kinds of blood in our family.”

“The more that learn to read the less learn how to make a living.”

“I think that the reason to live is to learn.”

“The first thing you learn in life is you're a fool.”

“Let us learn from the lips of death the lessons of life.”

“There are noble books but one wants the breath of life sometimes.”

“To live for a time close to great minds is the best kind of education.”