Rita Dove Quotes

There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.
Rita Dove

Life, Times, Complaints

If we really want to be full and generous in spirit, we have no choice but to trust at some level.
Rita Dove

Trust, Choice, Spirit

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

Imagination, Before, Impossible

Being true to yourself really means being true to all the complexities of the human spirit.
Rita Dove

Yourself, True, Human

When we are touched by something it's as if we're being brushed by an angel's wings.
Rita Dove

Angel, Wings, Touched

I loved to write when I was a child. I wrote, but I always thought it was something that you did as a child, then you put away childish things.
Rita Dove

Thought, Put, Away

I prefer to explore the most intimate moments, the smaller, crystallized details we all hinge our lives on.
Rita Dove

Lives, Moments, Details

My favorite poets may not be your bread and butter. I have more favorite poems than favorite poets.
Rita Dove

May, Favorite, Bread

Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful.
Rita Dove

Poetry, Powerful, Language

The sound of the mandolin is a very curious sound because it's cheerful and melancholy at the same time, and I think it comes from that shadow string, the double strings.
Rita Dove

Time, Same, Cheerful

Being Poet Laureate made me realize I was capable of a larger voice. There is a more public utterance I can make as a poet.
Rita Dove

Public, Realize, Voice

For many years, I thought a poem was a whisper overheard, not an aria heard.
Rita Dove

Thought, Heard, Whisper

I believe people may have a predisposition for artistic creativity. It doesn't mean they're going to make it.
Rita Dove

Mean, May, Creativity

I carry a notebook with me everywhere. But that's only the first step.
Rita Dove

Step, Carry, Everywhere

I didn't know writers could be real live people, because I never knew any writers.
Rita Dove

Live, Real, Knew

I have a high guilt quotient. A poem can go through as many as 50 or 60 drafts. It can take from a day to two years-or longer.
Rita Dove

Through, Two, High

I keep the drafts of each poem in color-coded folders. I pick up the folders according to how I feel about that color that day.
Rita Dove

Keep, Color, Pick

I loved to read, but I always thought that the dream was too far away. The person who had written the book was a god, it wasn't a person.
Rita Dove

God, Book, Person

I see a resurgence of interest in poetry. I am less optimistic about the prospects for the arts when it comes to federal funding.
Rita Dove

Poetry, Less, Interest

I think children have talent and insight, but it gets beaten out of them.
Rita Dove

Children, Talent, Insight

I think reading Shakespeare's plays when I was young was extremely important. He had the ability to make utter strangers come alive.
Rita Dove

Important, Young, Alive

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

Life, Amazing, Nothing

I try to show what it is about language and music that enthralls, because I think those are the two elements of poetry.
Rita Dove

Music, Poetry, Two

I was apprehensive. I feared every time I talked about poetry, it would be filtered through the lens of race, sex, and age.
Rita Dove

Age, Time, Poetry

I write short stories, and I wrote a play.
Rita Dove

Play, Short, Write

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Biography

Nationality: American

Type: Poet

Born: August 28, 1952

Links

Find on Amazon: Rita Dove

Cite this Page: Citation

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