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.

Quote by Rita Dove

Topics: Rita Dove Quotes

The sound of the mandolin is a very curious sound because it's cheerful and melancholy...

The sound of the mandolin is a very curious sound because it's cheerful and melancholy...

It really wasn't until I was in college when I began to write more and...

It really wasn't until I was in college when I began to write more and...

I see a resurgence of interest in poetry. I am less optimistic about the prospects...

I see a resurgence of interest in poetry. I am less optimistic about the prospects...

The American Dream is a phrase we'll have to wrestle with all of our lives....

The American Dream is a phrase we'll have to wrestle with all of our lives....

It's the combination of the intimate and the public that I find so exciting about...

It's the combination of the intimate and the public that I find so exciting about...

To write for PC reasons, because you think you ought to be dealing with this...

To write for PC reasons, because you think you ought to be dealing with this...

I believe people may have a predisposition for artistic creativity. It doesn't mean they're going...

I believe people may have a predisposition for artistic creativity. It doesn't mean they're going...

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

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

People write me from all over the country, asking me, and sometimes even telling me,...

People write me from all over the country, asking me, and sometimes even telling me,...

I keep the drafts of each poem in color-coded folders. I pick up the folders...

I keep the drafts of each poem in color-coded folders. I pick up the folders...

Without imagination we can go nowhere. And imagination is not restricted to the arts. Every...

Without imagination we can go nowhere. And imagination is not restricted to the arts. Every...

I try to show what it is about language and music that enthralls, because I...

I try to show what it is about language and music that enthralls, because I...

Being Poet Laureate made me realize I was capable of a larger voice. There is...

Being Poet Laureate made me realize I was capable of a larger voice. There is...

I didn't know writers could be real live people, because I never knew any writers.

I didn't know writers could be real live people, because I never knew any writers.

I prefer to explore the most intimate moments, the smaller, crystallized details we all hinge...

I prefer to explore the most intimate moments, the smaller, crystallized details we all hinge...

My father is a chemist, my mother was a homemaker. My parents instilled in us...

My father is a chemist, my mother was a homemaker. My parents instilled in us...

Instead of trying to come up and pontificate on what literature is, you need to...

Instead of trying to come up and pontificate on what literature is, you need to...

I think children have talent and insight, but it gets beaten out of them.

I think children have talent and insight, but it gets beaten out of them.

Being true to yourself really means being true to all the complexities of the human...

Being true to yourself really means being true to all the complexities of the human...

I was apprehensive. I feared every time I talked about poetry, it would be filtered...

I was apprehensive. I feared every time I talked about poetry, it would be filtered...