619 Quotes by Zora Neale Hurston

Ah hears what they say ’cause they just will collect round mah porch ’cause it’s on de big road. Mah husband git so sick of ’em sometime he.

Charlotte Mason considered herself not only a patron to black writers and artists, but also a guardian of black folklore. She believed it her duty to protect it from those whites who, having “no more interesting things to investigate among themselves,” were grabbing “in every direction material that by right belongs entirely to another race.

But we see something else: the nobility of a soul that has suffered to the point almost of erasure, and still it struggles to be whole, present, giving. Growing in love, deepening in understanding. Cudjo’s wisdom becomes so apparent, toward the end of his life, that neighbors ask him to speak to them in parables. Which he does. Offering peace.

Ah can look through muddy water and see dry land.

Ah done been tuh de horizon and back and now Ah kin set heah in mah house and live by comparisons.

Her voice began snagging on the prongs of her feelings.

An envious heart makes a treacherous ear. They done ‘heard’ bout you just what they hope done happened.

The mediocre have no importance except through appointment. They feel invaded and defeated by the presence of creative folk among them.

Oh to be a pear tree – any tree in bloom! With kissing bees singing of the beginning of the world! She was sixteen. She had glossy leaves and bursting buds and she wanted to struggle with life but it seemed to elude her. Where were the singing bees for her?