Write Quotes by Rita Dove

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

— Rita Dove

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

Libraries are where it all begins.

— Rita Dove

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

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

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

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

Sometimes a word is found so right it trembles at the slightest explanation.

— Rita Dove

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

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

Creative writing and literacy go hand and hand.

— Rita Dove

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

My first advice would be to read, read, read, which sounds interesting coming in a digital age, but it's so much easier to listen…

— Rita Dove

To me, a poem is almost like someone whispering to another person, or you hear the whispering in your head. I hope with my…

— Rita Dove

I was not interested in doing the plot of OEDIPUS in blackface. I did wonder, what would these people have been like if they…

— Rita Dove