Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. (Nikki Giovanni) Quotes
If culture was a railroad, I can see the tracks running from the Spirituals to the Hip Hop Nation.
Quotes to Explore
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The irony is that Washington was, in reality, very much like Benedict Arnold. The big difference was that Washington was ultimately able to control his emotions, something Arnold never learned to do.
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I'm an optimist about other people. I'm not an optimist about myself.
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We have to surmount the difficulties that face us and work steadfastly for the happiness and prosperity of our country.
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There's a delicious irony in seeing private luxury jets flying in to Washington, D.C., and people coming off of them with tin cups in their hands saying that they're going to be trimming down and streamlining their businesses. There's a message there.
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I mean, I am fully aware of my influence and my responsibility to society in general representing the gay community. But in the same time, I don't represent the entire gay community because it's a vast, vast community, as one can imagine.
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People should know what they want, not just what they don't want.
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Every year on your birthday, you get a chance to start new.
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Everybody has values. Now, you know it may be formed in a secular setting, it may be formed in an intellectual setting, but everybody comes forward with values.
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I don't think it's in any way harmful, this marriage of media and politicians. I think it enhances the communications process considerably and makes it possible for the public to be far more aware, far more up-to-date on issues and the opposite sides of the issues.
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I have to say that getting to tackle Maria in 'The Sound of Music' at Carnegie Hall was surreal. When I heard my voice, it was all I could do to keep myself from doing a British accent and sound like Julie Andrews!
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We think of Washington as the defensive-minded pragmatist who won the Revolution by avoiding unnecessary risks on the battlefield. But that was not how he started out.
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There are lots of things I'm acquainting myself with now to be a more well-rounded person.
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My mother left me for seven years in an orphanage.
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Perhaps concentrated wealth will inspire a nation of innovative problem-solvers. But if the view of many economists is right - that it sometimes discourages innovation - then we should worry.
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In Hanover Park they highlighted the terrible plight of backyard dwellers and the fact that year after year nothing has been done to help you: the hope and despair you all live with every day.
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Billy Crystal knows how to make people laugh. He's got 30 years on stage... there's no telling him what's funny.
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I never go wild with nails.
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When I was a little girl, I thought when I had an opportunity to go into space, I thought I would at a minimum be working on Mars or another large planet because we were doing all of these incredible things.
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I think what I've learned to focus on is my music, and that's why I made my record independently.
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I like feeling a sense of unity with the crowd even though everybody might be thinking something different.
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For me personally, I was just worried that transitioning from a podcast, which is a very intimate sort of experience - people tell me they listen to my podcast while they're at the gym or on road trips, so you're in someone's ear - to being on television - that's a lot of space to fill.
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Mos Def is a name that I built and cultivated over the years, it's a name that the streets taught me, a figure of speech that was given to me by the culture and by my environment, and I feel I've done quite a bit with that name. [But] it's time to expand and move on.
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You can either invade a country or leave them alone and trade with them. When goods cross borders, armies don't.
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If culture was a railroad, I can see the tracks running from the Spirituals to the Hip Hop Nation.
