“...the only way to get a thing done is to start to do it, then keep on doing it, and finally you'll finish it,....”

“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.”

“I tire so of hearing people say,Let things take their course.Tomorrow is another day.I do not need my freedom when I'm dead.I cannot live on tomorrow's bread.”

“Down Where I AmToo many yearsBeatin' at the door--I done beat myBoth fists sore.Too many yearsTryin' to get up there--Done broke my ankles down,Got nowhere.Too many yearsClimbin' that hill,'Bout out of breath.I got my fill.I'm gonna plant my feetOn solid ground.If you want to see me,Come down.”

“I have discovered in life that there are ways of getting almost anywhere you want to go, if you really want to go.”

“When a man starts out to build a world,He starts first with himself”

“Because my mouth Is wide with laughterAnd my throat Is deep with song,You do not thinkI suffer afterI have held my painSo long?Because my mouth Is wide with laughterYou do not hear My inner cry?Because my feet Are gay with dancing You do not knowI die?”