Nikki Giovanni citations

“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.”

“Mistakes are a fact of life: It is the response to the error that counts.”

“Don't want to be near you for the thoughts we share but the words we never have to speak.”

“We love because it's the only true adventure.”

“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”

“I am so hip even my errors are correct”

“i hope i die
warmed
by the life that i tried
to live”

“Nothing is easy to the unwilling.”

“A lot of people refuse to do things because they don't want to go naked, don't want to go without guarantee. But that's what's got to happen. You go naked until you die”

“You must be unintimidated by your own thoughts because if you write with someone looking over you shoulder, you'll never write.”

“I’ve not learned the acceptable way of saying you fascinate me… I’ve not even learned how to say I like you without frightening people away”

“Deal with yourself as a individual, worthy of respect and make everyone else deal with you the same way.”

“If you don't understand yourself you don't understand anybody else.”

“daddy says the world is
a drum tight and hard
and i told him
i’m gonna beat
out my own rhythm”

“I'm glad I understand that while language is a gift, listening is a responsibility. (U. S. poet and writer, 1943- )”

“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.”

“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.”

“And you will understand all too soon
That you, my children of battle, are your heroes”

“Floating to shore… riding a low moon… on a slow cloud.”

“Black love is black wealth”

“If you're a writer, the answer to everything is yes.”