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Paul Laurence Dunbar Quotes
28 Sourced Quotes
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When hit comes to real right singin',
'T ain't no easy thing to do.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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This, this it is to be accursed indeed;
For if we mortals love, or if we sing,
We count our joys not by what we have,
But by what kept us from the perfect thing.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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An Angel, robed in spotless white,
Bent down and kissed the sleeping Night.
Night woke to blush; the sprite was gone.
Men saw the blush and called it Dawn.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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Slight was the thing I bought, small was the debt I thought, Poor was the loan at best - God! but the interest!
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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There is no rebel like Nature. She is an iconoclast.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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Folks ain't got no right to censuah othah folks about dey habits.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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I found you and I loved you,
And all the world was mine.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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Taking it all in all and after all, negro life in Washington is a promise rather than a fulfillment. But it is worthy of note for the really excellent things which are promised
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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If the muse were mine to tempt it
And my feeble voice were strong,
If my tongue were trained to measures,
I would sing a stirring song.
I would sing a song heroic
Of those noble sons of Ham,
Of the gallant colored soldiers
Who fought for Uncle Sam!
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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What Joe Hamilton lacked more than anything else in the world was some one to kick him. Many a man who might have lived decently and become a fairly respectable citizen has gone to the dogs for the want of some one to administer a good resounding kick at the right time. It is corrective and clarifying.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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Oh, dere's lots o' keer an' trouble
In dis world to swaller down;
An' ol' Sorrer's purty lively
In her way o' gittin' roun'.
Yet der's times when I furgit 'em,—
Aches an' pains an' troubles all,—
An' it's when I tek at ebenin'
My ol' banjo f'om de wall.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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Hope is tenacious. It goes on living and working when science has dealt it what should be its deathblow.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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Oh, how with more than dreams the soul is torn, ere sleep comes down to soothe the weary eyes.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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There is a heaven, for ever, day by day,
The upward longing of my soul doth tell me so.
There is a hell, I'm quite as sure; for pray,
If there were not, where would my neighbors go?
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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It's easy 'nough to titter w'en de stew is smokin' hot, But hit's mighty ha'd to giggle w'en dey's nuffin' in de pot.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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Washington is the city where the big men of little towns come to be disillusioned
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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Wearily I sit and listen
To the water's ceaseless drip.
To my lip
Fate turns up the bitter cup,
Forcing me to sip;
'Tis a bitter, bitter drink,
Thus I sit and think.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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It's all a farce, - these tales they tell About the breezes sighing, And moans astir o'er field and dell, Because the year is dying.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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Why, de 'lectric light o' Heaven
Seems to settle on de spot,
When yo' mammy says de blessin'
An' de co'n pone's hot.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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We reduce the deity to vulgar fractions. We place our own little ambitions and label them "divine messages". With our short sight we affect to take a comprehensive view of eternity.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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It is a little dark still, but there are warnings of the day and somewhere out of the darkness a bird is singing to the Dawn.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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Because you love me I have much achieved,
Had you despised me then I must have failed,
But since I knew you trusted and believed,
I could not disappoint you and so prevailed.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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You are sweet, O Love, dear Love,
You are soft as the nesting dove.
Come to my heart and bring it rest
As the bird flies home to its welcome nest.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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A crust of bread and a corner to sleep in. A minute to smile and an hour to weep in. A pint of joy to a peck of trouble, And never a laugh but the moans come double. And that is life. A crust and a corner that makes love precious, With a smile to warm and tears to refresh us, And joy seems sweeter when cares come after, And a moan is the finest of foils for laughter. And that is life.
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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A song fluttered down in the form of a dove,
And it bore me a message, the one word-Love!
Paul Laurence Dunbar
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Quote of the day
Now if the harvest is over, And the world cold, Give me the bonus of laughter, As I lose hold.
John Betjeman
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Creative Commons
Born:
June 27, 1872
Died:
February 9, 1906
(aged 33)
Bio:
Paul Laurence Dunbar was an American poet, novelist, and playwright of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Known for:
Lyrics of Lowly Life (1895)
The Sport of the Gods (1902)
Lyrics of Sunshine and Shadow (1905)
When Malindy Sings (1903)
The uncalled (1896)
Paul Laurence Dunbar on Wikipedia
Paul Laurence Dunbar works on Gutenberg Project
Paul Laurence Dunbar works on Wikisource
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