Quotes by Rita Dove

“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 th...”

“I try to show what it is about language and music that enthralls, because I think those are the two elements of poetry.”

“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.”

“I was apprehensive. I feared every time I talked about poetry, it would be filtered through the lens of race, sex, and age.”

“I see a resurgence of interest in poetry. I am less optimistic about the prospects for the arts when it comes to federal funding.”

“The poetry that sustains me is when I feel that, for a minute, the clouds have parted and I've seen ecstasy or something.”

“I think one of the things that people tend to forget is that poets do write out of life. It isn't some set piece that then gets put up on the shelf, but that the impetus, the real instigation for p...”

“Against Self-PityIt gets you nowhere but deeper intoyour own shit--pure misery a luxuryone never learns to enjoy.”

“I tell you, if you feel strange, strange things will happen to you: Fallen peacocks on library shelves”

“I've never stopped wanting to cross the equator, or touch an”