Quotes from Rita Dove

I carry a notebook with me everywhere. But that's only the first step.

One definition of eternity is that we are not alone on this planet, that there are those who've gone before and those who will come, and that there is a community of spirits.

I think reading Shakespeare's plays when I was young was extremely important. He had the ability to make utter strangers come alive.

People write me from all over the country, asking me, and sometimes even telling me, what they think a poet laureate should do. I found that immensely valuable.

Rap is only one end of a whole spectrum of verbal play and virtuosity. Rap is geared for aural pleasure.

Courage has nothing to do with our determination to be great. It has to do with what we decide in that moment when we are called upon to be more.

What is ironic is that Allen Ginsberg's importance was in its twilight for so many years that it took his death to bring it to the front page. He electrified an entire world!

I always loved science. And in fact, I got a science award in high school. I mean, I loved science, but I think I loved literature more.