Young man, young man, your arm's too short to box with God.
– James Weldon Johnson
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.
– James Weldon Johnson
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.
– James Weldon Johnson
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.
– James Weldon Johnson
I thought of Paris as a beauty spot on the face of the earth, and of London as a big freckle.