“Cheap little rhymesA cheap little tuneAre sometimes as dangerousAs a sliver of the moon.”

“Folks, I'm telling you,birthing is hardand dying is mean-so get yourself a little loving in between.”

“Sometimes a crumb fallsFrom the tables of joy, Sometimes a boneIs flung.To some peopleLove is given, To othersOnly heaven.”

“America is a dream.The poet says it was promises.The people say it is promises—that will come true.The people do not always say things out loud,Nor write them down on paper.The people often holdGreat thoughts in their deepest heartsAnd sometimes only blunderingly express them,Haltingly and stumbling say them,And faultily put them into practice.The people do not always understand each other.But there is, somewhere there,Always the trying to understand,And the trying to say,"You are a man. Together we are building our land.”

“Well, son, I'll tell you:Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.It's had tacks in it,And splinters,And boards torn up,And places with no carpet on the floor --Bare.But all the timeI'se been a-climbin' on,And reachin' landin's,And turnin' corners,And sometimes goin' in the darkWhere there ain't been no light.So boy, don't you turn back.Don't you set down on the steps'Cause you finds it's kinder hard.Don't you fall now --For I'se still goin', honey,I'se still climbin',And life for me ain't been no crystal stair.”

“Your explanation depresses me," I said."Your nonsense depresses me," said Simple.”

“Of course Covarrubias wasn't a negro, but how he caught the darky spirit!”