Top 62 Quotes by Rita Dove

I make a discovery in a poem as I write it.

I always loved science. And in fact, I got a science award in high school. I mean, I loved science, but I think I loved literature more.

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.

For many years, I thought a poem was a whisper overheard, not an aria heard.

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.

To practice your scales, so to speak, in order play the symphony, is what you have to do as a young poet.

Equality and self-determination should never be divided in the name of religious or ideological fervor.

My father is a chemist, my mother was a homemaker. My parents instilled in us the feeling that learning was the most exciting thing that could happen to you, and it never ends.

Being Poet Laureate made me realize I was capable of a larger voice. There is a more public utterance I can make as a poet.

I keep the drafts of each poem in color-coded folders. I pick up the folders according to how I feel about that color that day.