Quotes from Selected Poems

Langston Hughes ·  297 pages

Rating: (5.9K votes)


“Looks like what drives me crazy
Don't have no effect on you--
But I'm gonna keep on at it
Till it drives you crazy, too.”
― Langston Hughes, quote from Selected Poems


“Out of love,
No regrets--
Though the goodness
Be wasted forever.

Out of love,
No regrets--
Though the return
Be never.”
― Langston Hughes, quote from Selected Poems


“The sea is a desert of waves,
A wilderness of water.”
― Langston Hughes, quote from Selected Poems


“I will take your heart.
I will take your soul out of your body
As though I were God.
I will not be satisfied
With the little words you say to me.
I will not be satisfied
With the touch of your hand
Nor the sweet of your lips alone.
I will take your heart for mine.
I will take your soul.
I will be God when it comes to you.”
― Langston Hughes, quote from Selected Poems


“The speaker catches fire
looking at their faces.
His words
jump down to stand
in listener's places.”
― Langston Hughes, quote from Selected Poems



“Joe has sense enough to know
He is a god.
So many gods don't know.”
― Langston Hughes, quote from Selected Poems


About the author

Langston Hughes
Born place: in Joplin, Missouri, The United States
Born date February 1, 1902
See more on GoodReads

Popular quotes

“I have noticed that in books this sort of stalemate never seems to occur; the authors are so anxious to move their stories forward (however wooden they may be, advancing like market carts with squeaking wheels that are never still, though they go only to dusty villages where the charm of the country is lost and the pleasures of the city will never be found) that there are no such misunderstandings, no refusals to negotiate. The assassin who holds a dagger to his victim's neck is eager to discuss the whole matter, and at any length the victim or the author may wish.”
― Gene Wolfe, quote from Sword & Citadel


“He may not have said the words, but I know my son. I saw the way he looked at you."
"How?"
"Like he'd do murder for you.”
― Jessica Spotswood, quote from Born Wicked


“going to Palestine. Lots of Jews were going there, Hans said, to escape from Herr Hitler and to build a new Jewish homeland. Hans had sworn Jacob to secrecy. Even to utter such things could get a Jew arrested these days, Hans had reminded him. But Hans need not have worried. Jacob was as silent as the mountains, and his word was his bond. Jacob would take Hans’s secrets to the grave if need be. Yet somewhere deep in his heart, Jacob actually contemplated the idea of running away with the Meyers, be it to Palestine or anywhere else. To stay in Germany was becoming more foolish with each and every passing day, Jacob could see. Why could his father not see it too?”
― Joel C. Rosenberg, quote from The Auschwitz Escape


“The people celebrate with our traditional dancing: the women clapping their hands and chanting, their low sweet voices humming across the desert night, and the men leaping high into the air. Everyone contributes food, and we eat”
― Waris Dirie, quote from Desert Flower


“Oh now now he says that's all over you must forget all about that next week your solitary finishes how about that hmm? I felt like laughing in his face: How can your solitary finish? That's the best laugh yet.”
― Patrick McCabe, quote from The Butcher Boy


Interesting books

Shoeless Joe
(11.6K)
Shoeless Joe
by W.P. Kinsella
Black Hole
(36.5K)
Black Hole
by Charles Burns
The Summer of Katya
(2.7K)
The Summer of Katya
by Trevanian
First Meetings in Ender's Universe
(11K)
First Meetings in En...
by Orson Scott Card
Last Words
(10.2K)
Last Words
by George Carlin
The Great Fires
(1.9K)
The Great Fires
by Jack Gilbert

About BookQuoters

BookQuoters is a community of passionate readers who enjoy sharing the most meaningful, memorable and interesting quotes from great books. As the world communicates more and more via texts, memes and sound bytes, short but profound quotes from books have become more relevant and important. For some of us a quote becomes a mantra, a goal or a philosophy by which we live. For all of us, quotes are a great way to remember a book and to carry with us the author’s best ideas.

We thoughtfully gather quotes from our favorite books, both classic and current, and choose the ones that are most thought-provoking. Each quote represents a book that is interesting, well written and has potential to enhance the reader’s life. We also accept submissions from our visitors and will select the quotes we feel are most appealing to the BookQuoters community.

Founded in 2023, BookQuoters has quickly become a large and vibrant community of people who share an affinity for books. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world; conversely, gleaning the main ideas of a book via a quote or a quick summary is typical of the Information Age but is a habit disdained by some diehard readers. We feel that we have the best of both worlds at BookQuoters; we read books cover-to-cover but offer you some of the highlights. We hope you’ll join us.