I've learned that my people are not the only ones oppressed... I have sung my songs all over the world and everywhere found that some common bond makes the people of all lands take to Negro songs as their own.
Paul RobesonRead
We [must] realize that our future lies chiefly in our own hands.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Our future is primarily determined by our own actions and decisions.
This quote emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility and agency in shaping our future. It suggests that while external factors may influence our circumstances, it is ultimately our choices and efforts that define the path we take in life.
Themes
FutureResponsibilityChoiceAgencySelf-Determination
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about personal development, you could say, 'As Paul Robeson wisely noted, our future lies in our own hands.'
More from Paul Robeson
All quotes βWe ask for nothing that is not ours by right, and herein lies the great moral power of our demand.
Paul RobesonRead
My mother was born in your state, Mr. Walter, and my mother was a Quaker, and my ancestors in the time of Washington baked bread for George Washington's troops when they crossed the Delaware, and my own father was a slave.
Paul RobesonRead
The intolerance of the few, or the risk of it, carries the day against the wider humanity of the many.
Paul RobesonRead
I shall take my voice wherever there are those who want to hear the melody of freedom
Paul RobesonRead
And at home in the United States we found continued and increased persecution, first of leaders of the Communist Party, and then of all honest anti-fascists.
Paul RobesonRead
Similar quotes
What we usually do to great men and women is relegate them to homogenised heroism. Their words and actions become soundbites and images in a way that gives us an excuse not to act bravely in our own lives.
David OyelowoRead
But because of his telling, many who did not believe have come to believe, and some who did not care have come to care. He tells the story, out of infinite pain, partly to honor the dead, but also to warn the living - to warn the living that it could happen again and that it must never happen again. Better than one heart be broken a thousand times in the retelling, he has decided, if it means that a thousand other hearts need not be broken at all. (vi)
Elie WieselRead
I try to take care_x000D_ and be gentle to them._x000D_ Words and eggs must be handled with care._x000D_ Once broken they are impossible things to repair.
Anne SextonRead
The same intelligence is required to marshal an army in battle and to order a good dinner. The first must be as formidable as possible, the second as pleasant as possible, to the participants.
PlutarchRead
Fill what is empty, empty what is full, and scratch where it itches.
Tallulah BankheadRead
Is the distinction between living for Christ and dying for Him so great? Is not the second the logical conclusion of the first?
Elisabeth ElliotRead