There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.
Rita DoveRead
If our children are unable to voice what they mean, no one will know how they feel. If they can’t imagine a different world, they are stumbling through a darkness made all the more sinister by its lack of reference points. For a young person growing up in America’s alienated neighborhoods, there can be no greater empowerment than to dare to speak from the heart — and then to discover that one is not alone in ones feelings.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Empowering children to express their feelings helps them navigate their world and find connection with others.
Rita Dove emphasizes the importance of helping children articulate their emotions and envision a better world. Without the ability to express themselves, children may feel isolated and lost, especially in challenging environments. By encouraging them to share their true feelings, they can find empowerment and realize that others share similar experiences, fostering a sense of community and understanding.
Themes
ChildrenExpressionFeelingsEmpowermentCommunityCommunication
In practice
Example use cases
A teacher discussing the importance of emotional literacy in class.
More from Rita Dove
All quotes →Without imagination we can go nowhere. And imagination is not restricted to the arts. Every scientist I have met who has been a success has had to imagine.
Rita DoveRead
As an African-American, as a woman, I think that I've been sensitized to the way in which history privileges the white male and the way in which certain aspects of history, the things that we are taught in school, the things that are handed down, never, never entered the picture though they might have been very important.
Rita DoveRead
All of us have moments in our childhood where we come alive for the first time. And we go back to those moments and think, This is when I became myself.
Rita DoveRead
Being Poet Laureate made me realize I was capable of a larger voice. There is a more public utterance I can make as a poet.
Rita DoveRead
Don't be so fast, you're all you've got.
Rita DoveRead
Similar quotes
Learn how to cook! That's the way to save money. You don't save it buying hamburger helpers, and prepared foods; you save it by buying fresh foods in season or in large supply, when they are cheapest and usually best, and you prepare them from scratch at home. Why pay for someone else's work, when if you know how to do it, you can save all that money for yourself?
Julia ChildRead
True education is the ability to discern the difference between what you do know and what you don't.
Anatole FranceRead
Kids who have an understanding of how and why their feelings are what they are are much more likely to talk to us about what's happening, and they have better skills to work it out.
Brene BrownRead
Knowledge is not simply another commodity. On the contrary. Knowledge is never used up. It increases by diffusion and grows by dispersion.
Daniel J. BoorstinRead
Our whole educational system, from the elementary schools to the universities, is increasingly turning out people who have never heard enough conflicting arguments to develop the skills and discipline required to produce a coherent analysis, based on logic and evidence. The implications of having so many people so incapable of confronting opposing arguments with anything besides ad hominem responses reach far.
Thomas SowellRead
When you're a student of poetry, you're lucky if you don't realize how untalented you are until you get a little better. Otherwise, you would just stop.
Tony HoaglandRead