"America is a dream.
The poet says it was promises.
The people say it <i>is</i> promises — that will come true.
The people do not always say things out loud,
Nor write them down on paper.
The people often hold
Great thoughts in their deepest hearts
And sometimes only blunderingly express them,
Haltingly and stumbling say them,
And faultily put them into practice.
The people do not always understand each other.
But there is, somewhere there,
Always the <i>trying</i> to understand,
And the <i>trying</i> to say,
"You are a man. Together we are building our land.

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About Langston Hughes

Langston Hughes (1 February 1902 – 22 May 1967) was an American poet, novelist, playwright, social activist and newspaper columnist.

Biography information from Wikiquote

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Additional quotes by Langston Hughes

Because my mouth
Is wide with laughter
And my throat
Is deep with song,
You do not think
I suffer after
I have held my pain
So long?

Because my mouth
Is wide with laughter
You do not hear
My inner cry?
Because my feet
Are gay with dancing
You do not know
I die?