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.

Quote by Rita Dove

Topics: Rita Dove Quotes

There are distinct duties of a poet laureate. I plan a reading series at the...

There are distinct duties of a poet laureate. I plan a reading series at the...

In working on a poem, I love to revise. Lots of younger poets don't enjoy...

In working on a poem, I love to revise. Lots of younger poets don't enjoy...

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....

If we really want to be full and generous in spirit, we have no choice...

If we really want to be full and generous in spirit, we have no choice...

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...

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...

It's unfortunate that sometimes in schools, there's this need to have things quantified and graded.

It's unfortunate that sometimes in schools, there's this need to have things quantified and graded.

Under adversity, under oppression, the words begin to fail, the easy words begin to fail....

Under adversity, under oppression, the words begin to fail, the easy words begin to fail....

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,...

What writing does is to reveal.

What writing does is to reveal.

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...

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...

Libraries are where it all begins.

Libraries are where it all begins.

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.

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 thought, after the Pulitzer, at least nothing will surprise me quite that much in...

I thought, after the Pulitzer, at least nothing will surprise me quite that much in...

Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful.

Poetry is language at its most distilled and most powerful.

I loved to write when I was a child. I wrote, but I always thought...

I loved to write when I was a child. I wrote, but I always thought...

Rap is only one end of a whole spectrum of verbal play and virtuosity. Rap...

Rap is only one end of a whole spectrum of verbal play and virtuosity. Rap...

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...