From barren brown stems to glistening leaf-buds; from the leaf-buds to snowy virginity of bloom…It was like a flute song forgotten in another existence and remembered again. What? How? Why? This singing she heard that had nothing to do with her ears. The rose of the world was breathing out smell. It followed her through all her waking moments and caressed her in her sleep.
Zora Neale HurstonShe didn't read books so she didn't know that she was the world and the heavens boiled down to a drop.
Zora Neale HurstonEthical and cultural desegregation. It is a contradiction in terms to scream race pride and equality while at the same time spurning Negro teachers and self-association.
Zora Neale HurstonIf you kin see de light at daybreak, you don't keer if you die at dusk. It's so many people never seen de light at all.
Zora Neale HurstonShe stood there until something fell off the shelf inside her. Then she went inside there to see what it was. It was her image of Jody tumbled down and shattered. But looking at it she saw that it never was the flesh and blood figure of her dreams. Just something she had grabbed up to drape her dreams over.
Zora Neale Hurston