“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.”

“Mother to SonWell, 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.- Langston Hughes (112)”

“Well, son, I'll tell you: Life for me ain't been no crystal stair.”

“...A mountain you're plannin' on climbin' ain't the same as the one you ain't. It ain't so pretty...”

“Now I seen Mauna Kena from Honokaa b'fore, o'course, but a mountain you're planning on climbin' ain't the same as the one you ain't. It ain't so pretty, nay.”

“Falling down ain't falling down,If you don't cry when you hit the floor,It's called the past cause I'm getting past,And I ain't nothing like I was before,You ought to see me now”