--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk…" description: "\"We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon.\" — Gwendolyn Brooks" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/gwendolyn-brooks-5624_cool_we-real-cool-we-left-school-we-lurk-late_106678.png" --- # We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike… ![“We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon.” quote by Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/gwendolyn-brooks-5624_cool_we-real-cool-we-left-school-we-lurk-late_106678.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/gwendolyn-brooks-5624_cool_we-real-cool-we-left-school-we-lurk-late_106678.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/6e2/gwendolyn-brooks-5624_cool_we-real-cool-we-left-school-we-lurk-late_106678.png) > “We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. We Die soon.” [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. A rhythmic collage of urban youth culture, juxtaposing rebellion, music, and mortality. **In simple terms:** Street life’s raw rhythm. Key Takeaway Youth culture blends danger and art. Themes urban youth music mortality rebellion Mood defiant melancholic Type poetic cultural When to use this quote - hip‑hop lyric writing - graffiti art - community workshops Key Concepts social commentary poetic collage Practical Applications - Capture authentic voice through fragmented phrasing Questions to Reflect On - How does fragmented language reflect chaotic urban experience? - What does the juxtaposition of 'Jazz June' and 'Die soon' suggest? A Different Perspective The fragmented style can obscure clear meaning for some readers. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Death](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/death/) [Jazz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/jazz/) [June](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/june/) [School](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/school/) [Sin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sin/) [Strikes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/strikes/) ## Related quotes > [I love, loved, loved 'We Real Cool' by Gwendolyn Brooks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jason-reynolds/i-love-loved-loved-we-real-cool-by-gwendolyn-brooks/) [Jason Reynolds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jason-reynolds/) > [Sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-newman/sometimes-nothin-can-be-a-real-cool-hand/) [Paul Newman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-newman/) > [I'm real cool, like to smile, and like to have fun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anthony-bennett/i-m-real-cool-like-to-smile-and-like-to-have-fun/) [Anthony Bennett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anthony-bennett/) > [A real cool dude you should get to know, on a diffrent plateu, like whoa!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-romeo/a-real-cool-dude-you-should-get-to-know-on-a-diffrent-plateu-like-whoa/) [Lil Romeo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-romeo/) > [I know my sound, and I have to be true to who I am as an artist, even though I want be real cool,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brooke-fraser/i-know-my-sound-and-i-have-to-be-true-to-who-i-am-as-an-artist-even/) [Brooke Fraser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brooke-fraser/) > [If I die soon, don't ever say I died too young.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doug-stanhope/if-i-die-soon-don-t-ever-say-i-died-too-young/) [Doug Stanhope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doug-stanhope/) > [If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call you could make, who would you call and what would you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/if-you-were-going-to-die-soon-and-had-only-one-phone-call-you-could/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [The best of all things is something entirely outside your grasp: not to be born, not to be, to be nothing. But the second-best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/friedrich-nietzsche/the-best-of-all-things-is-something-entirely-outside-your-grasp-not/) [Friedrich Nietzsche](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/friedrich-nietzsche/) > [You failed but your safe, you succeeded but you'll die soon. think of it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/irwin-balanquit/you-failed-but-your-safe-you-succeeded-but-you-ll-die-soon-think-of-it/) Irwin Balanquit > [If you were going to die soon and had only one phone call to make, who would you call and what would you say?…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/stephen-levine/if-you-were-going-to-die-soon-and-had-only-one-phone-call-to-make-who/) [Stephen Levine](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/stephen-levine/) > [“Your mom is so old, she might die soon”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/a-really-great-comedian/your-mom-is-so-old-she-might-die-soon/) A really great comedian > [Man weeps to think that he will die so soon; woman, that she was born so long ago.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/man-weeps-to-think-that-he-will-die-so-soon-woman-that-she-was-born/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [“love never ends as it is appearing again again one way r another you cannot deny it from coming but there is no everybody…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/umair-m-naeem/love-never-ends-as-it-is-appearing-again-again-one-way-r-another-you/) Umair M Naeem > [Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/tell-me-what-else-should-i-have-done-doesn-t-everything-die-at-last/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [You have those who have been living and breathing Buckminster Fuller ever since he converted them to his cult and to be honest, I'm…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathon-keats/you-have-those-who-have-been-living-and-breathing-buckminster-fuller/) [Jonathon Keats](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathon-keats/) ## More by Gwendolyn Brooks > [My last defense / Is the present tense.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/my-last-defense-is-the-present-tense/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [Nothing could stop Mississippi.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/nothing-could-stop-mississippi/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [Very early in life I became fascinated with the wonders language can achieve. And I began playing with words.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/very-early-in-life-i-became-fascinated-with-the-wonders-language-can/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [I've always thought of myself as a reporter. When people ask why I don't stop writing, I say, 'Look at what's happening in this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/i-ve-always-thought-of-myself-as-a-reporter-when-people-ask-why-i-don/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [She was afraid to suggest to him that to most people, nothing "happens." That most people merely live from day to day until they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/she-was-afraid-to-suggest-to-him-that-to-most-people-nothing-happens/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [A writer should get as much education as possible, but just going to school is not enough; if it were, all owners of doctorates…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/a-writer-should-get-as-much-education-as-possible-but-just-going-to/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [Reading is important - read between the lines. Don't swallow everything.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/reading-is-important-read-between-the-lines-don-t-swallow-everything/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [No man can give me any word but Wait.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/no-man-can-give-me-any-word-but-wait/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [The forties and fifties were years of high poet-incense; the language-flowers were thickly sweet. Those flowers whined and begged white folks to pick them,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/the-forties-and-fifties-were-years-of-high-poet-incense-the-language/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [It frightens me to realize that, if I had died before the age of fifty, I would have died a 'Negro' fraction.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/it-frightens-me-to-realize-that-if-i-had-died-before-the-age-of-fifty/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [One reason cats are happier than people is that they have no newspapers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/one-reason-cats-are-happier-than-people-is-that-they-have-no/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [We are each other's magnitude and bond.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/we-are-each-other-s-magnitude-and-bond/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [What I'm fighting for now in my work... for an expression relevant to all manner of blacks, poems I could take into a tavern,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/what-i-m-fighting-for-now-in-my-work-for-an-expression-relevant-to/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [And if sun comes / How shall we greet him? / Shall we not dread him, / Shall we not fear him / After…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/and-if-sun-comes-how-shall-we-greet-him-shall-we-not-dread-him-shall/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) > [I think it must be lonely to be God. Nobody loves a master. No.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gwendolyn-brooks/i-think-it-must-be-lonely-to-be-god-nobody-loves-a-master-no/) [Gwendolyn Brooks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) [Explore all 100 Gwendolyn Brooks quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gwendolyn-brooks/) ## More Cool quotes > [Hats off to starting a franchise younger than we all did in 'Twilight' and keeping your cool. The 'Harry Potter' men and women had,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kellan-lutz/hats-off-to-starting-a-franchise-younger-than-we-all-did-in-twilight/) [Kellan Lutz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kellan-lutz/) > [I love being in Malibu. It's so cool there, and the water is just, it's nice and, and I love the beach. And I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jackie-evancho/i-love-being-in-malibu-it-s-so-cool-there-and-the-water-is-just-it-s/) [Jackie Evancho](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jackie-evancho/) > [When you're in your twenties and starting out, the problem is that you care about being cool. Being older, I can care less about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-righton/when-you-re-in-your-twenties-and-starting-out-the-problem-is-that-you/) [James Righton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-righton/) > [Vo5C0y Muchos Gracias for your article.Really looking forward to read more. Really Cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/serivce/vo5c0y-muchos-gracias-for-your-article-really-looking-forward-to-read/) Serivce > [What a cool job to be part of - whether it's doing lighting or acting or serving food on set. You're part of telling…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-dern/what-a-cool-job-to-be-part-of-whether-it-s-doing-lighting-or-acting/) [Laura Dern](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-dern/) > [Jail is definitely not cool. Education is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ja-rule/jail-is-definitely-not-cool-education-is/) [Ja Rule](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ja-rule/) > [It's been really fun to see with each album when I change to see the fans of the show emulate my style and with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avril-lavigne/it-s-been-really-fun-to-see-with-each-album-when-i-change-to-see-the/) [Avril Lavigne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avril-lavigne/) > [My family environment wasn't cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/keyshia-cole/my-family-environment-wasn-t-cool/) [Keyshia Cole](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/keyshia-cole/) > [It would be really cool to have my dad here to witness this, to see his grandchildren, to see this woman that I chose…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sterling-k-brown/it-would-be-really-cool-to-have-my-dad-here-to-witness-this-to-see/) [Sterling K. Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sterling-k-brown/) > [To us, being the bad guys is cool, because we always root for the bad guys in the movies.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-hanneman/to-us-being-the-bad-guys-is-cool-because-we-always-root-for-the-bad/) [Jeff Hanneman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-hanneman/) > [On my podcast, I got to interview Will Ferrell, Sam Hunt, Colin Cowherd - all these different names - and it was just really…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-darnold/on-my-podcast-i-got-to-interview-will-ferrell-sam-hunt-colin-cowherd/) [Sam Darnold](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-darnold/) > [“Take care of your costume and your confidence will take care of itself.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amit-kalantri/take-care-of-your-costume-and-your-confidence-will-take-care-of-itself/) [Amit Kalantri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amit-kalantri/) > [I had always been scared of the unknown, and I think it had a lot to do with a lack of self-confidence (and wearing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-levy/i-had-always-been-scared-of-the-unknown-and-i-think-it-had-a-lot-to/) [Dan Levy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-levy/) > [There are a lot of movies about misfits that are quite cool, that kind of glamorize it on some level. I think there are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rebecca-hall/there-are-a-lot-of-movies-about-misfits-that-are-quite-cool-that-kind/) [Rebecca Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rebecca-hall/) > [Rather be dead than cool.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kurt-cobain/rather-be-dead-than-cool/) [Kurt Cobain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kurt-cobain/) Browse all 4,681 Cool quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "We real cool. We Left school. We Lurk late. We Strike straight. We Sing sin. We Thin gin. We Jazz June. 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