Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. Quotes
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All systems require myths for their longevity.
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If now isn't a good time for the truth I don't see when we'll get to it.
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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.
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My work is a part of me and I know it. I have no reason to try to pick one part of me out from the rest. I only see my work, or rather I should say I see my work only telling my part of the human experience.
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The future is in good hands.
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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.
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Most of my books are a two-year project. I tend to follow my heart and my mind and research materials where they take me.
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BEFORE YOU JUMP OFF A BRIDGE OR HANG YOURSELF OR BE UNHAPPY PLEASE CONSIDER: LIVE FOR YOURSELF; THOSE WHO HATE YOU HAVE NO PURCHASE
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We need to make sure our children travel to see things. Not necessarily long distances but at least out of the neighborhood. On a train. A boat. An airplane.
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Favorite poems are like favorite children. We definitely have them but we never tell as the others would have their feelings hurt.
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Poets can tell the truth as they see it. It’s the author’s story, the author’s voice.
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There are some things we do simply because the doing is a success.
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Life is a process where people mix and match, fall apart and come back together.
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I always like summer best
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You must be unintimidated by your own thoughts.
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I try to impress upon my students the importance of looking, listening... paying attention, in other words. You must pay attention.
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My main strength as a young writer was that I had no fear of making mistakes. I knew I would and I knew I could and would learn from them.
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If I can't do what I want to do, then my job is to not do what I want to do. It's not the same thing, but it's the best thing I can do.
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And you will understand all too soon That you, my children of battle, are your heroes
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Black Poetry is not for Black People...it is for everybody
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Being Black and poor is, I think, radically different from being anything else and poor. Poor, to most Blacks, is a state of mind. Those who accept it are poor; those who struggle are middle class.
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If you're a writer, the answer to everything is yes.
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We are better than we think and not yet what we want to be.
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I really don't think life is about the I-could-have-beens. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don't mind the failure but I can't imagine that I'd forgive myself if I didn't try.