I’ve always been intrigued by the way history works, the way we decide what is mentioned. Rita Dove Read Quote
As an African-American, as a woman, I think that I’ve been sensitized to the way in which history privileges the white male and the way in which certain aspects of history, the things that we are taught in school, the things that are handed down, never, never entered the picture though they might have been very important. Rita Dove Read Quote
I think that you certainly don’t have to be aged and travel the world to write a poem. Rita Dove Read Quote
To practice your scales, so to speak, in order play the symphony, is what you have to do as a young poet. Rita Dove Read Quote
It makes me furious to hear haters of all skin colors – especially Christian, Jewish, and Muslim fundamentalists – deride other people because of their different beliefs and lifestyles. Rita Dove Read Quote
I think one of the things that people tend to forget is that poets do write out of life. It isn’t some set piece that then gets put up on the shelf, but that the impetus, the real instigation for poetry is everything that’s happening around us. Rita Dove Read Quote
One definition of eternity is that we are not alone on this planet, that there are those who’ve gone before and those who will come, and that there is a community of spirits. Rita Dove Read Quote
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 Read Quote
