“I try to do as many of my own stunts as possible. If you keep on taking yourself out of the role you play, you lose the thread of the character.” IfsTryingPlayCharacterLosesMy OwnRolesThread Author:Willem Dafoe
“For years, I had heard about the lack of interest in literature in the U.S. and I had complained about the lack of respect artists got here. In my heart, I failed to understand how people could fail to be moved by art.” PeopleYearsArtLiteratureInterestFailingHeardMoved Author: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 think, This is when I became myself.” ThinkingFirstsMomentsAliveChildhoodFirst TimeOur ChildrenEarly ChildhoodWhere We Come Author:Rita Dove
“Going to the library was the one place we got to go without asking for permission. And they let us choose what we wanted to read. It was a feeling of having a book be mine entirely.” BookFeelingsWantedMinesAskingLibraryPermission Author:Rita Dove
“The American Dream is a phrase we'll have to wrestle with all of our lives. It means a lot of things to different people. I think we're redefining it now” PeopleThinkingMeanDifferentDreamOur LivesPhrasesAmerican DreamDifferent PeoplesRedefining Author:Rita Dove
“The poetry that sustains me is when I feel that, for a minute, the clouds have parted and I've seen ecstasy or something” FeelsMinutesCloudsEcstasy Book:Conversations with Rita Dove Source: Conversations with Rita Dove
“In working on a poem, I love to revise. Lots of younger poets don't enjoy this, but in the process of revision I discover things” ProcessEnjoyPoetRevision Book:Conversations with Rita Dove Source: Conversations with Rita Dove
“What is ironic is that Allen Ginsberg's importance was in its twilight for so many years that it took his death to bring it to the front page. He electrified an entire world!” WorldYearsFrontsPagesImportanceIronicTwilightGinsberg Author: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 is how I want to promote poetry” WantReadingPlansPoetDutySeriesLibraryCongressAdviseLibrarianAggravation Author:Rita Dove
“It really wasn't until I was in college when I began to write more and more, and I realized I was scheduling my entire life around my writing” WritingCollegeI RealizedScheduling Author:Rita Dove
