Nikki Giovanni
33 quotes
Biography
Yolande Cornelia "Nikki" Giovanni Jr. was an American poet, writer, commentator, activist and educator. One of the world's best-known African-American poets, her work includes poetry anthologies, poetry recordings, and nonfiction essays, and covers topics ranging from race and social issues to children's literature.
"I love you because no two snowflakes are alike, and it is possible, if you stand tippy-toe, to walk between the raindrops."
"Art is not for the cultivated taste. It is to cultivate taste."
"the world is not a pleasant place to be without someone to hold and be held by."
"I want to be clear about this. If you wrote from experience, you'd get maybe one book, maybe three poems. Writers write from empathy."
"and sometimes I sitdown at my typewriterand I thinknot of someonecause there isn't anyoneto thinkabout and i wonderis it worth it"
"Writers don't write from experience, although many are hesitant to admit that they don't. ...If you wrote from experience, you'd get maybe one book, maybe three poems. Writers write from empathy."
"Poets shouldn't commit suicide. That would leave the world to those without imaginations or hearts. That would bequeath to the world a mangled syntax and no love of champagne. Poets must live in misery and ecstasy, to sing a song with the katydids. Poets should be ashamed to die before they kiss the sun."
"You have to read the poem and say, “My god, that’s a good poem,” and kind of smile at yourself. If you’re not willing to do that, then you’re wasting your time, and you’re hurting yourself in another way because you’re trying to please somebody who doesn’t like you. You don’t want to get in that position."
"History is wonderful. We have so much we can learn if we would quit making ideology out of history, and just deal with what happened…"
"Politics is personal. That, however, doesn’t mean it’s ideological. It means that one cares about what she or he is doing, what he or she is writing…"
"As a writer, one has to be willing to be wrong, willing to make mistakes. I’ve put everything on the table and accepted the fact that I may come up short. And, if (or when) I do, that’s okay."
"If I were advising someone on a writing career, the deal is this: write. If you get it published, good. If somebody pays you, better, because you have to eat, but the deal is you have to write."
"The authority of the writer always overcomes the skepticism of the reader."
"I'm a big fan of the black woman and so I'm always looking at aspects of the black woman--what she's doing and how she does it."
"I appreciate and enjoy my age."
"A lot of people resist transition and therefore never allow themselves to enjoy who they are. Embrace the change, no matter what it is once you do, you can learn about the new world you're in and take advantage of it."
"Everything will change. The only question is growing up or decaying."
"For most of my life, I've thought of myself as pretty cool."
"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."
"I am totally fascinated by people and our history as I understand and continue to explore it. People have so much to give and so far to go and yet we have given and gone a great distance. It's really just interesting to ask: why not? And see where that takes me."
"I spend a lot of time learning about bird watching."
"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."
"Poetry and music are very good friends. Like mommies and daddies and strawberries and cream - they go together."
"If you're a writer, the answer to everything is yes."
"You must be unintimidated by your own thoughts because if you write with someone looking over you shoulder, you'll never write."