164 Quotes by Rita Dove

Libraries are where it all begins.

If only the sun-drenched celebrities are being noticed and worshiped, then our children are going to have a tough time seeing the value in the shadows, where the thinkers, probers and scientists are keeping society together.

When I was young, I was older than I am today.

Nothing is too small. Nothing is too, quote-unquote, ordinary or insignificant. Those are the things that make up the measure of our days, and they're the things that sustain us. And they're the things that certainly can become worthy of poetry.

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

Sometimes a word is found so right it trembles at the slightest explanation.

When we are touched by something it’s as if we’re being brushed by an angel’s wings.

At the very beginning when I begin writing a poem I try not to think of the audience or anyone at all except for trying to get at the very center of what is driving that poem. In a way it’s like analyzing myself.

If you can’t be free, be a mystery.