Top 62 Quotes by Rita Dove

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

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!

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.

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.

I was appointed Poet Laureate. It came totally out of the blue because most Poet Laureates had been considerably older than I. It was not something that I even had begun to dream about!

The sound of the mandolin is a very curious sound because it's cheerful and melancholy at the same time, and I think it comes from that shadow string, the double strings.

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.

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.

I have a high guilt quotient. A poem can go through as many as 50 or 60 drafts. It can take from a day to two years-or longer.