--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I always wanted to write poetry, even…" description: "\"I always wanted to write poetry, even when I was very young.\" — Ama Ata Aidoo" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31e/ama-ata-aidoo-20511_poetry_i-always-wanted-to-write-poetry-even-whe_795754.jpg" --- # I always wanted to write poetry, even when I was very young. ![“I always wanted to write poetry, even when I was very young.” quote by Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31e/ama-ata-aidoo-20511_poetry_i-always-wanted-to-write-poetry-even-whe_795754.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31e/ama-ata-aidoo-20511_poetry_i-always-wanted-to-write-poetry-even-whe_795754.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/31e/ama-ata-aidoo-20511_poetry_i-always-wanted-to-write-poetry-even-whe_795754.jpg) > “I always wanted to write poetry, even when I was very young.” [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Early passion for poetry can shape lifelong creative pursuits and personal voice. **In simple terms:** Wanted poetry since youth. Key Takeaway Nurture early creative interests. Themes creativity literature growth identity Mood hopeful inspired Type artistic reflective When to use this quote - school projects - writing workshops - personal journaling - public readings Key Concepts poetry education self‑discovery Questions to Reflect On - How does poetry influence your life? - What barriers affect your writing? A Different Perspective External pressures may stifle expression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [“When you write poetry honestly, and when you read it honestly, then you become an individual and build up a defense against becoming programmed.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/when-you-write-poetry-honestly-and-when-you-read-it-honestly-then-you/) [Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mihaly-csikszentmihalyi/) > [I wanted to write poetry almost a little more than I wanted to eat.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-engle/i-wanted-to-write-poetry-almost-a-little-more-than-i-wanted-to-eat/) [Paul Engle](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-engle/) > [“Making it in poetry The young teller at the credit union asked why so many small checks from universities? Because I write poems I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-hicok/making-it-in-poetry-the-young-teller-at-the-credit-union-asked-why-so/) [Bob Hicok](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-hicok/) > [To be poet laureate is to try to spread the love and the accessibility of poetry to young people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jacqueline-woodson/to-be-poet-laureate-is-to-try-to-spread-the-love-and-the/) [Jacqueline Woodson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jacqueline-woodson/) > [I've loved poetry since a very young age and my parents, especially my dad, he really introduced us to art when we were quite…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dominique-crenn/i-ve-loved-poetry-since-a-very-young-age-and-my-parents-especially-my/) [Dominique Crenn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dominique-crenn/) > [No, what I should really like to do right now, in the full blaze of lights, before this illustrious assembly, is to shower every…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/knut-hamsun/no-what-i-should-really-like-to-do-right-now-in-the-full-blaze-of/) [Knut Hamsun](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/knut-hamsun/) > [I wanted to write a book about two women falling in love that wasn't hinged on tragedy or that involved some horrible identity-based misfortune.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-perri/i-wanted-to-write-a-book-about-two-women-falling-in-love-that-wasn-t/) [Camille Perri](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-perri/) > [I should write a book. I've always wanted to write a book. I should write a book about kids who see dead people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-noory/i-should-write-a-book-i-ve-always-wanted-to-write-a-book-i-should/) [George Noory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-noory/) > [I tried to depict the human face of this history, I wanted to write a book that people would actually want to read.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/imre-kert-sz/i-tried-to-depict-the-human-face-of-this-history-i-wanted-to-write-a/) [Imre Kertész](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/imre-kert-sz/) > [GOOD AS NEW was born out of the idea of writing a play where the stakes were high and the collisions were of a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-hedges/good-as-new-was-born-out-of-the-idea-of-writing-a-play-where-the/) [Peter Hedges](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-hedges/) > [I sing, I clean house, I write poetry. I cry. And I tell everyone I can, "I Believe in YOU."](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-lim/i-sing-i-clean-house-i-write-poetry-i-cry-and-i-tell-everyone-i-can-i/) [Robin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-lim/) > [I had hoped to be a poet, and for a long time I tried to write poetry. My first published pieces were poems.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/norman-lock/i-had-hoped-to-be-a-poet-and-for-a-long-time-i-tried-to-write-poetry/) [Norman Lock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/norman-lock/) > [The question does arise if how and why to write poetry in this time. It feels both completely essential and also quite difficult. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matthew-zapruder/the-question-does-arise-if-how-and-why-to-write-poetry-in-this-time/) [Matthew Zapruder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matthew-zapruder/) > [I was born in New Orleans, but I grew up in Hawaii. That was a paradise. That's a paradise I keep inside of me…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-hamby/i-was-born-in-new-orleans-but-i-grew-up-in-hawaii-that-was-a-paradise/) [Barbara Hamby](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-hamby/) > [“If you yourself paint or write poetry perhaps, you'll know how it feels to want to produce something ad be frustrated; your mind sulks…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kenneth-lillington/if-you-yourself-paint-or-write-poetry-perhaps-you-ll-know-how-it/) Kenneth Lillington ## More by Ama Ata Aidoo > [Sometimes a word or an argument will trigger a poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ama-ata-aidoo/sometimes-a-word-or-an-argument-will-trigger-a-poem/) [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) > [Humans, not places, make memories.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ama-ata-aidoo/humans-not-places-make-memories/) [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) > [Once in a while I catch myself wondering whether I would have found the courage to write if I had not started to write…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ama-ata-aidoo/once-in-a-while-i-catch-myself-wondering-whether-i-would-have-found/) [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) > [Once an interesting idea or theme occurs to me then I would want to write a poem about it. The rest, frankly, is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ama-ata-aidoo/once-an-interesting-idea-or-theme-occurs-to-me-then-i-would-want-to/) [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) > [O yes, everyone gets lonely some time or other. After all, if we look closer into ourselves, shall we not admit that the warmth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ama-ata-aidoo/o-yes-everyone-gets-lonely-some-time-or-other-after-all-if-we-look/) [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) > [No matter what anybody says, we can't have it all. Not if you are a woman. Not yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ama-ata-aidoo/no-matter-what-anybody-says-we-can-t-have-it-all-not-if-you-are-a/) [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) > [Love is fine for singing about and love songs are good to listen to, sometimes even to dance to. But when we need food…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ama-ata-aidoo/love-is-fine-for-singing-about-and-love-songs-are-good-to-listen-to/) [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) > [There are powerful forces undermining progress in Africa. But one must never underestimate the power of the people to bring about change.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ama-ata-aidoo/there-are-powerful-forces-undermining-progress-in-africa-but-one-must/) [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) > [The very old certainly do not go back on lunch remains but they do bite back at old conversational topics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ama-ata-aidoo/the-very-old-certainly-do-not-go-back-on-lunch-remains-but-they-do/) [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) > [Toyin Falola has given us what is truly rare in modern African writing: a seriously funny, racy, irreverent package of memories, and full of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ama-ata-aidoo/toyin-falola-has-given-us-what-is-truly-rare-in-modern-african/) [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) > [the best way to sharpen a knife is not to whet one side of it only. And neither can you solve a riddle by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ama-ata-aidoo/the-best-way-to-sharpen-a-knife-is-not-to-whet-one-side-of-it-only/) [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) > [Its a sad moment, really, when parents first become a bit frightened of their children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ama-ata-aidoo/its-a-sad-moment-really-when-parents-first-become-a-bit-frightened-of/) [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) > [“But what she also came to know was that someone somewhere would always see in any kind of difference, an excuse to be mean.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ama-ata-aidoo/but-what-she-also-came-to-know-was-that-someone-somewhere-would/) [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) > [Politicians are easy to attack, but frankly, we are all guilty of not meeting the needs of Africa's young people properly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ama-ata-aidoo/politicians-are-easy-to-attack-but-frankly-we-are-all-guilty-of-not/) [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) > [Africa is not fulfilling people's hopes and aspirations. African leaders have not had an agenda that included governing Africa so that people would find…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ama-ata-aidoo/africa-is-not-fulfilling-people-s-hopes-and-aspirations-african/) [Ama Ata Aidoo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) [Explore all 30 Ama Ata Aidoo quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ama-ata-aidoo/) ## More Poetry quotes > [I fell in love with social work, and that was my undoing as a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-rakosi/i-fell-in-love-with-social-work-and-that-was-my-undoing-as-a-poet/) [Carl Rakosi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-rakosi/) > [The name Phenomenal Woman was inspired by Maya Angelo, who wrote 'Phenomenal Woman', a favorite poem of mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/meena-harris/the-name-phenomenal-woman-was-inspired-by-maya-angelo-who-wrote/) [Meena Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/meena-harris/) > [A poet is wounded into speech, and he examines these wounds, meticulously, to discover how to heal them. The bad poet harangues at the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-r-delany/a-poet-is-wounded-into-speech-and-he-examines-these-wounds/) [Samuel R. Delany](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-r-delany/) > [“Time gives poetry to a battlefield...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/graham-greene/time-gives-poetry-to-a-battlefield/) [Graham Greene](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/graham-greene/) > [The poetry from the eighteenth century was prose; the prose from the seventeenth century was poetry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-hare/the-poetry-from-the-eighteenth-century-was-prose-the-prose-from-the/) [David Hare](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-hare/) > [“It took me years to learn to sit at my desk for more than two minutes at a time, to put up with the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erica-jong/it-took-me-years-to-learn-to-sit-at-my-desk-for-more-than-two-minutes/) [Erica Jong](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erica-jong/) > [The word 'mundane' has come to mean 'boring' and 'dull', and it really shouldn't - it should mean the opposite. Because it comes from…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-dawkins/the-word-mundane-has-come-to-mean-boring-and-dull-and-it-really/) [Richard Dawkins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-dawkins/) > [“In the streets, the children scream, the lovers cried, and the poets dreamed,” he crooned, putting down the metal grill tongs to take my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexandria-clarke/in-the-streets-the-children-scream-the-lovers-cried-and-the-poets/) [Alexandria Clarke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexandria-clarke/) > [Some minds corrode and grow inactive under the loss of personal liberty; others grow morbid and irritable; but it is the nature of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/washington-irving/some-minds-corrode-and-grow-inactive-under-the-loss-of-personal/) [Washington Irving](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/washington-irving/) > [You don’t read or overhear the voice in the poem, you are the voice in the poem.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/helen-vendler/you-don-t-read-or-overhear-the-voice-in-the-poem-you-are-the-voice-in/) [Helen Vendler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/helen-vendler/) > [All lyrical work must, as a whole, be perfectly intelligible, but in some particulars a little unintelligible.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/all-lyrical-work-must-as-a-whole-be-perfectly-intelligible-but-in/) [Johann Wolfgang von Goethe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/johann-wolfgang-von-goethe/) > [The world's history is a divine poem, of which the history of every nation is a canto, and every man a word. Its strains…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-a-garfield/the-world-s-history-is-a-divine-poem-of-which-the-history-of-every/) [James A. 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