I think children have talent and insight, but it gets beaten out of them. — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
To write for PC reasons, because you think you ought to be dealing with this subject, is never going to yield anything… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
All of us have moments in our childhood where we come alive for the first time. And we go back to those… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
The First Book: Go ahead, it won't bite. Well... maybe a little. More a nip, like. A tingle. It's pleasurable, really. You… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
People write me from all over the country, asking me, and sometimes even telling me, what they think a poet laureate should… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
My first advice would be to read, read, read, which sounds interesting coming in a digital age, but it's so much easier… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
By making us stop for a moment, poetry gives us an opportunity to think about ourselves as human beings on this planet… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I think that you certainly don't have to be aged and travel the world to write a poem. — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I wish someone had told me that my stories are really mine to tell. In other words, anything that I think is… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
The American Dream is a phrase we'll have to wrestle with all of our lives. It means a lot of things to… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
At the very beginning when I begin writing a poem I try not to think of the audience or anyone at all… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
Poetry of all the forms of literature I think is the most suited for the digital age and for the shorter attention… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
The sound of the mandolin is a very curious sound because it's cheerful and melancholy at the same time, and I think… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I think that when a poem can move readers across generations and across its specific class or race then it becomes truly… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
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 Copy Share Image
I try to show what it is about language and music that enthralls, because I think those are the two elements of… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I never think of my audience when I write a poem. I try to write out of whatever is haunting me; in… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
As an African-American, as a woman, I think that I've been sensitized to the way in which history privileges the white male… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I always loved science. And in fact, I got a science award in high school. I mean, I loved science, but I… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
If they don't read, if they don't love reading; if they don't find themselves compulsively reading, I don't think they're really a… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I think if you put something in a file that says "war poems" or "love poems" that you already restrict the way… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
I think children have talent and insight, but it gets beaten out of them. — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
Courage has nothing to do with our determination to be great. It has to do with what we decide in that moment when we… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
My inspiration comes from everywhere, just walking down the street and I never know where it's going to come from, so I keep a… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
To write for PC reasons, because you think you ought to be dealing with this subject, is never going to yield anything that is… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
All of us have moments in our childhood where we come alive for the first time. And we go back to those moments and… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
The First Book: Go ahead, it won't bite. Well... maybe a little. More a nip, like. A tingle. It's pleasurable, really. You see, it… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
Sometimes a word is found so right it trembles at the slightest explanation. — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
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,… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
People write me from all over the country, asking me, and sometimes even telling me, what they think a poet laureate should do. I… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
There are distinct duties of a poet laureate. I plan a reading series at the Library of Congress and advise the librarian. The rest… — Rita Dove Copy Share Image
