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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.
— Nikki Giovanni
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More quotes by Nikki Giovanni
The authority of the writer always overcomes the skepticism of the reader.
The Authority of a Writer (2024)
Poetry is the culture of a people. We are poets even when we don’t write poems; just look at our life, our rhythms, our tenderness, our signifying, our sermons and our songs.
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.
The Authority of a Writer (2024)
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…
Nikki Giovanni: Interview (2008)
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 a Writer (2024)
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