Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni, Jr. Quotes
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The future is in good hands.
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Now, everything I do, I do because I want to. And I believe the best is yet to come.
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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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We have a world to conquer...one person at a time...starting with ourselves.
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Art is not for the cultivated taste. It is to cultivate taste.
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Life is a process where people mix and match, fall apart and come back together.
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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.
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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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Show me someone not full of herself and I'll show you a hungry person.
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You must be unintimidated by your own thoughts.
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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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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.
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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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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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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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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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Black Poetry is not for Black People...it is for everybody
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And you will understand all too soon That you, my children of battle, are your heroes
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I always like summer best
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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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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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All systems require myths for their longevity.
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Life is a marvelous, transitory adventure.