Quotes by Gwendolyn Brooks

“we are each others magnitude and bond.”

“Poetry is life distilled.”

“Be careful what you swallow. Chew!”

“Exhaust the little moment. Soon it dies. And be it gash or gold it will not come Again in this identical guise.”

“As you get older, you find that often the wheat, disentangling itself from the chaff, comes out to meet you”

“When you love a man, he becomes more than a body. His physical limbs expand, and his outline recedes, vanishes. He is rich and sweet and right. He is part of the world, the atmosphere, the blue sky and the blue water.”

“I am a writer perhaps because I am not a talker.”

“Each body has its art…”

“When you use the term minority or minorities in reference to people, youre telling them that theyre less than somebody else.”

“Dont let anyone call you a minority if youre black or Hispanic or belong to some other ethnic group. Youre not less than anybody else.”

Surely--But I am very off from that.From surely. From indeed. From the decent arrowthat was my clean naivete and my faith.This morning, men deliver wounds and death.They will deliver death and wounds tomorrow.And I doubt all. You. Or a violet.

She was afraid to suggest to him that to most people, nothing happens. That most people merely live from day to day until they die. That, after he had been dead a year, doubtless fewer than five people would think of him oftener than once a year. That there might even come a year when no one on earth would think of him at all.

Live not for Battles Won.Live not for The-End-of-the-Song. Live in the along.

Poetry is life distilled.

Exhaust the little moment. Soon it dies.And be it gash or gold it will not comeAgain in this identical disguise.

We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon.

Say to them,say to the down-keepers,the sun-slappers,the self-soilers,the harmony-hushers,Even if you are not ready for dayit cannot always be night.You will be right.For that is the hard home-run.Live not for battles won.Live not for the-end-of-the-song.Live in the along.

We real cool. WeLeft school. WeLurk late. WeStrike straight. WeSing sin. WeThin gin. WeJazz June. WeDie soon.

Writing is a delicious agony.

I am a writer perhaps because I am not a talker.