I thought, after the Pulitzer, at least nothing will surprise me quite that much in my life. And another one happened. It was quite amazing. Rita Dove More Quotes by Rita Dove More Quotes From Rita Dove There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints. Rita Dove timemotivationallife Courage has nothing to do with our determination to be great. It has to do with what we decide in that moment when we are called upon to be more. Rita Dove that-momentmomentsdetermination If our children are unable to voice what they mean, no one will know how they feel. If they can’t imagine a different world, they are stumbling through a darkness made all the more sinister by its lack of reference points. For a young person growing up in America’s alienated neighborhoods, there can be no greater empowerment than to dare to speak from the heart — and then to discover that one is not alone in ones feelings. Rita Dove growing-upheartchildren All of us have moments in our childhood where we come alive for the first time. And we go back to those moments and think, This is when I became myself. Rita Dove where-we-comechildhoodthinking Sometimes Rita Dove explanationfoundsometimes A good poem is like a bouillon cube. It's concentrated and it nourishes you when you need it. Rita Dove cubesneeds Being true to yourself really means being true to all the complexities of the human spirit. Rita Dove be-true-to-yourselfspiritmean If only the sun-drenched celebrities are being noticed and worshiped, then our children are going to have a tough time seeing the value in the shadows, where the thinkers, probers and scientists are keeping society together. Rita Dove tough-timesshadowchildren Listen how they say your name. If they can't say that right, there's no way they're going to know how to treat you proper, neither. Rita Dove treatsnamesway I've always been intrigued by the way history works, the way we decide what is mentioned. Rita Dove intriguedway We should always do something that makes us feel like a child again. Keep learning, no matter what it is. Rita Dove shouldmatterchildren The library is an arena of possibility, opening both a window into the soul and a door onto the world. Rita Dove librarysouldoors You have to imagine it possible before you can see something. You can have the evidence right in front of you, but if you can't imagine something that has never existed before, it's impossible. Rita Dove womenimaginationimpossible If we’re going to solve the problems of the world, we have to learn how to talk to one another. Poetry is the language at its essence. It’s the bones and the skeleton of the language. It teaches you, if nothing else, how to choose your words. Rita Dove skeletonsessenceworld I think that when a poem can move readers across generations and across its specific class or race then it becomes truly classic. Rita Dove racemovingthinking Everybody who's anybody longs to be a tree. Rita Dove tree Nothing is too small. Nothing is too, quote-unquote, ordinary or insignificant. Those are the things that make up the measure of our days, and they're the things that sustain us. And they're the things that certainly can become worthy of poetry. Rita Dove insignificantworthyordinary From the time I began to read, as a child, I loved to feel their heft in my hand and the warm spot caused by their intimate weight in my lap; I loved the crisp whisper of a page turning, the musky odor of old paper and the sharp inky whiff of new pages. Leather bindings sent me into ecstasy. I even loved to gaze at a closed book and daydream about the possibilities inside. Rita Dove pages-turningbookchildren To me, a poem is almost like someone whispering to another person, or you hear the whispering in your head. I hope with my own poems that the reader feels a connection, soul to soul, that'll help us all feel a little less alone on the planet. And it does have the power to direct change. A writer can make the word 'dark' be something positive. You can relieve a word like 'hysterical' of its misogynistic implications. You can make the language your own. That's what poetry is about. Rita Dove souldarklittles If you can't be free, be a mystery. Rita Dove mysteryifs
