-
There is no such thing as writer's block. There is only not enough information. If you can't write, learn something.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
Poetry is the most mistaught subject in any school because we teach poetry by form and not by content.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr.
-
Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
Photographers direct the eye toward a particular object. We who write, one hopes, are directing the heart and the soul.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
I always loved English because whatever human beings are, we are storytellers. It is our stories that give a light to the future. When I went to college I became a history major because history is such a wonderful story of who we think we are. English is much more a story of who we really are.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
We [Black people] have always used our creativity to battle and we're not the only ones. Black Americans are certainly leaders in that simply because we were denied education and dealt with enforced illiteracy. But people seem to always forget that literacy is not the only way of learning things or conveying knowledge.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
We have a world to conquer...one person at a time...starting with ourselves.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
The future is in good hands.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr.
-
and sometimes I sit down at my typewriter and I think not of someone cause there isn't anyone to think about and i wonder is it worth it
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
Everyone understands that love comes in many different packages and is used in many different ways. You cannot love beyond your years, nor can you fail to love beneath them... In other words, I think you get the love you need when you open your heart.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
I had a really nice childhood; I had great parents. I earned my allowance by washing dishes, and in the summer I earned my allowance by working in daddy's garden.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
I'm glad I understand that while language is a gift, listening is a responsibility. (U.S. poet and writer, 1943- )
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
All systems require myths for their longevity.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
The job of the architect becomes more difficult in this secular age. Where once he had a god to extol, he now has humans like himself; where once he had "he," he now has "she" and "they.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr.
-
I’m a big fan of history—applying the lessons as well as the joys and sadness. If we pay attention, we would see how we affect each other. In terms of time, we are not that far from one another. If we were to look back a century, it would seem like a long time; but, if we look at it by decades then it’s only 10 years, and by generations it’s only five.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
We black women are the single group in the West intact. And anybody can see we're pretty shaky. We are, however (all praises), the only group that derives its identity from itself.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
Everybody that loves freedom loves Harriet Tubman because she was determined not only to be free, but to make free as many people as she could.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
I think we're always in love. It's that simple. And it's important to remember that love doesn't have anything to do with sex. It's two different things. Being in love is the happy part. I was teasing my gentleman, "We know that you're in love when you cook for us." It's true. When men cook for you, they're in love.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
There are things you stand up for because it’s right.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
If I could come back as anything - I'd be a bird, first, but definitely the command key is my second choice.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr.
-
It's really just interesting to ask: why not? And see where that takes me.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
The only advice [for new writers and poets] I can offer is to be yourself: not the self someone else wants you to be, but the self you are. Enjoy yourself and your life. But most of all travel and eat. That's how we learn.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
Baseball is already the world's most tranquil sport. It is probably the only active sport where you are not seriously required to be alive to play.
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. -
I grow old though pleased with my memories The tasks I can no longer complete Are balanced by the love of the tasks gone past I offer no apology only this plea: When I am frayed and strained and drizzle at the end Please someone cut a square and put me in a quilt That I might keep some child warm And some old person with no one else to talk to Will hear my whispers And cuddle near
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr.