The faces and the tactics of the leaders may change every four years, or two, or one, but the people go on forever. Paul Robeson More Quotes by Paul Robeson More Quotes From Paul Robeson My future depends mostly upon myself. Paul Robeson my-futuredepends In my music, my plays, my films, I want to carry always this central idea: to be African. Paul Robeson musicplayideas This is our home and this is our country. Beneath its soil lie bones of our fathers; for it some of them fought, bled, and died. Here we were born and here we will stay. Paul Robeson countryfatherlying The artist must elect to fight for Freedom or for Slavery. Paul Robeson freedomfightingartist Every artist, every scientist, must decide now where he stands. He has no alternative. There is no standing above the conflict on Olympian heights. There are no impartial observers. Through the destruction, in certain countries, of the greatest of man's literary heritage, through the propagation of false ideas of racial and national superiority, the artist, the scientist, the writer is challenged. The struggle invades the formerly cloistered halls of our universities and other seats of learning. The battlefront is everywhere. There is no sheltered rear. Paul Robeson artiststrugglecountry Artists are the gatekeepers of truth. Paul Robeson gatekeepersartist Yes, I heard my people singing!-in the glow of parlor coal-stove and on summer porches sweet with lilac air, from choir loft and Sunday morning pews-and my soul was filled with their harmonies. Then, too, I heard these songs in the very sermons of my father, for in the Negro's speech there is much of the phrasing and rhythms of folk-song. The great, soaring gospels we love are merely sermons that are sung; and as we thrill to such gifted gospel singers as Mahalia Jackson, we hear the rhythmic eloquence of our preachers, so many of whom, like my father, are masters of poetic speech. Paul Robeson summersongsweet The talents of an artist, small or great, are God-given. They've nothing to do with the private person; they're nothing to be proud of. They're just a sacred trust... Having been given, I must give. Man shall not live by bread alone, and what the farmer does I must do. I must feed the people - with my songs. Paul Robeson artistsongmen Artists are the radical voice of civilization. Paul Robeson voiceartistcivilization If the American Negro is to have a culture of his own he will have to leave America to get it. Paul Robeson ifscultureamerica The talents of an artist, small or large, are God-given... They are a sacred trust. Paul Robeson sacredtalentartist I did a long concert tour in England and Denmark and Sweden, and I also sang for the Soviet people, one of the finest musical audiences in the world. Paul Robeson musicallongpeople Get them to sing your song and they will want to know who you are. Paul Robeson teachingwantsong With Othello, Shakespeare posed this problem of a black man in a white society in the role that he's playing. And Shakespeare gave Othello such dignity - he came not from - as he said - not from hate but from honor, from a sense of his own human dignity. And to me, to my mind, there could be no greater character played. Paul Robeson hatecharactermen I learned that along with the towering achievements of the cultures of ancient Greece and China there stood the culture of Africa, unseen and denied by the imperialist looters of Africa's material wealth. Paul Robeson diversityachievementjustice You want to shut up every Negro who has the courage to stand up and fight for the rights of his people, for the rights of workers, and I have been on many a picket line for the steelworkers too. Paul Robeson fightingrightscourage The patter of their feet as they walk through Jim Crow barriers to attend school is the thunder of the marching men of Joshua, and the world rocks beneath their tread. Paul Robeson rocksmenschool I feel closer to my country than ever. There is no longer a feeling of lonesome isolation. Instead-peace. I return without fearing prejudice that once bothered me . . . for I know that people practice cruel bigotry in their ignorance, not maliciously Paul Robeson ignorancepracticecountry I stand here struggling for the rights of my people to be full citizens in this country. They are not-in Mississippi. They are not-in Montgomery. That is why I am here today. . . . You want to shut up every colored person who wants to fight for the rights of his people!. Paul Robeson fightingstrugglecountry You know I am an actor, and I have medals for diction. Paul Robeson medaldictionactors
