Rita Dove Quotes

Poet

Rita Dove is an American poet born on August 28, 1952. Her works are known for their profound social insight and emotional expression, having won numerous awards including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.

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All Thinking Writing Ifs Mean Poet Poetry People Way World Children

Famous Rita Dove Quotes

“We should always do something that makes us feel like a child again. Keep learning, no matter what it is.”

Feels Should Children Matter No Matter What Keep Learning

Author:Rita Dove

“Don't be so fast, you're all you've got.”

Speed

Book:Collected Poems: 1974-2004

Source: Collected Poems: 1974-2004

“By making us stop for a moment, poetry gives us an opportunity to think about ourselves as human beings on this planet and what we mean to each other.”

Thinking Giving Humans Mean Moments Opportunity Human Beings Planets

Author:Rita Dove

“The library is an arena of possibility, opening both a window into the soul and a door onto the world.”

World Soul Doors Possibility Window Library Opening Arena

Author: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 hadn't been in that situation?... One could look at Oedipus, or at my character Augustus, as a cynical schemer who did everything because he was hungry for power. But that's just too easy. I'm more interested in how humans can embody conflicting goals and emotions.”

People Ifs Humans Looks Has Beens Character Easy Goal Emotion Situation Wonder Hungry Crafts Plot Cynical Not Interested Augustus Oedipus Blackface

Author: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 really going to matter to anyone else. It has to matter to you.”

Thinking Writing Matter Reason Subjects Ought Yield

Author:Rita Dove

“What writing does is to reveal.”

Writing Doe

Author:Rita Dove

“The joy of working at something to find out what it means to me is what I grew up with.”

Mean Joy Grew Grew Up

Book:Conversations with Rita Dove

Source: Conversations with Rita Dove

“Under adversity, under oppression, the words begin to fail, the easy words begin to fail. In order to convey things accurately, the human being is almost forced to find the most precise words possible, which is a precondition for literature.”

Humans Order Literature Easy Human Beings Failing Adversity Oppression Precise

Author:Rita Dove

About the Author

Born: August 28, 1952
Known for: Poet
Quotes: 109

Books & Sources

Conversations with Rita DoveRelated source material

On the Bus With Rosa ParksRelated source material

Collected Poems: 1974-2004Related source material

Fifth Sunday: storiesRelated source material

Grace Notes: PoemsRelated source material

Selected poemsRelated source material

The Yellow House on the Corner: PoemsRelated source material

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