164 Quotes by Rita Dove

If they don’t read, if they don’t love reading; if they don’t find themselves compulsively reading, I don’t think they’re really a writer.

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.

It’s the combination of the intimate and the public that I find so exciting about being poet laureate.

I was pirouette and flourish, I was filigree and flame. How could I count my blessings when I didn’t know their names?

What’s a word, a talisman, to hold against the world?

A good poem is like a bouillon cube. It’s concentrated and it nourishes you when you need it.

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 think if you put something in a file that says “war poems” or “love poems” that you already restrict the way in which the poem might move.

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.