James Weldon Johnson's Quotes

Northern white people love the Negro in a sort of abstract way, as a race; through a sense of justice, charity, and philanthropy, they will liberally assist in his elevation.

Shortly after this I was made a member of the boys' choir, it being found that I possessed a clear, strong soprano voice. I enjoyed the singing very much.

Southern white people despise the Negro as a race, and will do nothing to aid in his elevation as such; but for certain individuals they have a strong affection, and are helpful to them in many ways.

The peculiar fascination which the South held over my imagination and my limited capital decided me in favor of Atlanta University; so about the last of September I bade farewell to the friends and scenes of my boyhood and boarded a train for the South.

Through my music teaching and my not absolutely irregular attendance at church, I became acquainted with the best class of colored people in Jacksonville.

When we arrived in London, my sadness at leaving Paris was turned into despair. After my long stay in the French capital, huge, ponderous, massive London seemed to me as ugly a thing as man could contrive to make.

Labor is the fabled magician's wand, the philosophers stone, and the cap of good fortune.

Young man, young man, your arm's too short to box with God.

You are young, gifted, and Black. We must begin to tell our young, There's a world waiting for you, Yours is the quest that's just begun.

The battle was first waged over the right of the Negro to be classed as a human being with a soul; later, as to whether he had sufficient intellect to master even the rudiments of learning; and today it is being fought out over his social recognition.

The Southern whites are in many respects a great people. Looked at from a certain point of view, they are picturesque. If one will put oneself in a romantic frame of mind, one can admire their notions of chivalry and bravery and justice.

And so for a couple of years my life was divided between my music and my school books.

As I look back now I can see that I was a perfect little aristocrat.

As yet, the Negroes themselves do not fully appreciate these old slave songs.

I had enjoyed life in Paris, and, taking all things into consideration, enjoyed it wholesomely.

I thought of Paris as a beauty spot on the face of the earth, and of London as a big freckle.

It is from the blues that all that may be called American music derives its most distinctive character.

My mother was kept very busy with her sewing; sometimes she would have another woman helping her.

She was my first love, and I loved her as only a boy loves.

There are a great many colored people who are ashamed of the cake-walk, but I think they ought to be proud of it.

Washington shows the Negro not only at his best, but also at his worst.

Americans are immensely popular in Paris; and this is not due solely to the fact that they spend lots of money there, for they spend just as much or more in London, and in the latter city they are merely tolerated because they do spend.

Amsterdam was a great surprise to me. I had always thought of Venice as the city of canals; it had never entered my mind that I should find similar conditions in a Dutch town.