affection hengivenhet/ godhug to earn å fortjene / å fortene appreciation anerkjennelse, verdsettelse / anerkjenning, verdsetting critic kritiker/kritikar to endure å holde ut / å halde ut betrayal forræderi whether her: enten patch flekk to redeem å gjøre bedre, å rette opp / å gjere betre, å rette opp condition her: forhold on hold utsatt/utsett deferred utsatt/utsett raisin rosin to fester å bli betent to run å renne to crust å danne skorpe to sag å henge ned load bør
What is success? To laugh often and much; To win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; To earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; To appreciate beauty; To find the best in others; To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; To know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is to have succeeded. However, not all dreams come true. Some dreams are put on hold – maybe just for the time being, or maybe indefinitely. This is what the American poet Langston Hughes (1902–1967) was wondering about such dreams: What happens to a dream deferred? Does it dry up like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore – And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? Or crust and sugar over – like a syrupy sweet? Maybe it just sags like a heavy load. Or does it explode?
The Ferguson riots: Police stand guard in front of a smouldering squad car after it was set on fire by demonstrators during a protest in 2014 in Ferguson, Missouri. Protesting turned into rioting following the grand jury announcement to not charge officer Darren Wilson in the Michael Brown case. Brown, an 18-year-old black man, was killed by Wilson, a white police officer.
70
Chapter 2