Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. Quotes
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There is always something to do. There are hungry people to feed, naked people to clothe, sick people to comfort and make well. And while I don't expect you to save the world I do think it's not asking too much for you to love those with whom you sleep, share the happiness of those whom you call friend, engage those among you who are visionary and remove from your life those who offer you depression, despair and disrespect.
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Once you know who you are, you don't have to worry anymore.
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Poetry and music are very good friends. Like mommies and daddies and strawberries and cream - they go together.
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Some say we are responsible for those we love. Others know we are responsible for those who love us.
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the world is not a pleasant place to be without someone to hold and be held by.
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I wish that she had had a black loon because I don't think that Nina [Simone] did. I have always had - I've been very fortunate - a group of little old ladies that I love and who love me, and who turned and to whom I turn at different times.
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Poems don't have to rhyme... Poems are about beauty and emotion; in other words poems are about feelings.
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Daddy says the world is a drum tight and hard and I told him I'm gonna beat out my own rhythm.
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Death is a slave's freedom.
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Everything will change. The only question is growing up or decaying.
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We all have our muses. My grandmother and my mother are the people I write for. I'll never have to worry about who buys my work, or who likes it, and who doesn't. The people who I want to be proud of me already are.
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Educational progress is a national concern; education is a private one.
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Ever been kidnapped by a poet if i were a poet i'd kidnap you put you in my phrases and meter.
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A lot of people refuse to do things because they don't want to go naked, don't want to go without guarantee. But that's what's got to happen. You go naked until you die.
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Language instruction should start in the first grade. Writing, also.
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Style has a profound meaning to Black Americans. If we can’t drive, we will invent walks and the world will envy the dexterity of our feet. If we can’t have ham, we will boil chitterlings; if we are given rotten peaches, we will make cobblers; if given scraps, we will make quilts; take away our drums, and we will clap our hands. We prove the human spirit will prevail. We will take what we have to make what we need. We need confidence in our knowledge of who we are.
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The ability to take pride in your own work is one of the hallmarks of sanity.
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Poetry is music though, unfortunately, not all music is poetry. Because music has other carriers to take its message - beats, lyrics, singers, bass players - anyone in music can rise to make a major statement but in poetry there are only words to do the work. And they do sometimes have to sweat.
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We are all either wheels or connectors. Whichever we are we must find truth and balance, which is a bicycle. Trust and balance are also essential to true love.
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We believe 'Peter Rabbit' because Beatrix Potter believes it. You have to.
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The poet Melvin B. Tolson once said "A civilization is judged only in its decline." That made sense to me. I would imagine the same is true for poets and tennis players.
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I think life is cotton candy on a rainy day. For those who grew up with cotton candy the old-fashioned way, it is very delicate. Pre-made cotton candy that has preservatives is not nearly as good or true. True cotton candy is sugar, color, and air and it melts very quickly. That was the metaphor - it can't be preserved, it can't be put aside, it can't be banked. It has to be experienced, like life.
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The nature of tragedy and accident is that we cannot predict.
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If everybody became a poet the world would be much better. We would all read to each other.