Now, everything I do, I do because I want to. And I believe the best is yet to come.
— Nikki Giovanni
For most of my life, I've thought of myself as pretty cool.
I'm just totally fascinated by people.
I am proud of the hip hop generation. They are good business people and, actually, good people.
The poet Melvin B. Tolson once said, 'A civilization is judged only in its decline.' That made sense to me. I would imagine the same is true for poets and tennis players.
If you know what you're talking about, or if you feel that you do, the reader will believe you.
Follow your image as far as you can no matter how useless you think it is. Push yourself.
When you are skinning your customers, you should leave some skin on to grow again so that you can skin them again.
White people really deal more with God and black people with Jesus.
We love because it's the only true adventure.
There're two people in the world that are not likeable: a master and a slave.
We write because we believe the human spirit cannot be tamed and should not be trained.
Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts.
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.
Hip-hop is a cultural expression - it's embracing.
Poetry and music are very good friends. Like mommies and daddies and strawberries and cream - they go together.
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.
The catchword I use with my classes is: The authority of the writer always overcomes the skepticism of the reader.
There are things you stand up for because it's right.
I think one of the nicest things that we created as a generation was just the fact that we could say, 'Hey, I don't like white people.'
If I could come back as anything - I'd be a bird, first, but definitely the command key is my second choice.
Art is not for the cultivated taste. It is to cultivate taste.
You must invent your own games and teach us old ones how to play.
Some say we are responsible for those we love. Others know we are responsible for those who love us.
We eat up artists like there's going to be a famine at the end.
I appreciate and enjoy my age.
I spend a lot of time learning about bird watching.
I had a really nice childhood; I had great parents. I earned my allowance by washing dishes, and in the summer I earned my allowance by working in daddy's garden.
Favorite poems are like favorite children. We definitely have them but we never tell as the others would have their feelings hurt.
We believe 'Peter Rabbit' because Beatrix Potter believes it. You have to.
If everybody became a poet the world would be much better. We would all read to each other.
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.
If now isn't a good time for the truth I don't see when we'll get to it.
Sacred cows make very poor gladiators.
If you don't understand yourself you don't understand anybody else.
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.
Everything will change. The only question is growing up or decaying.
