QuoteProject
To practice your scales, so to speak, in order play the symphony, is what you have to do as a young poet.
Rita Dove
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

Young poets need to hone their skills through practice to master their craft.

Rita Dove emphasizes the importance of foundational practices, like practicing scales in music, for young poets. Just as musicians must train their fingers to play complex pieces, poets must develop their writing skills through consistent practice to ultimately create beautiful and meaningful poetry.

Themes

PracticePoetrySkillsYoungExcellence

In practice

Example use cases

During a workshop, a mentor could inspire young poets by sharing this quote to highlight the importance of daily practice.

More from Rita Dove

There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.
Rita DoveRead
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
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.
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

Similar quotes

As Bromberger observed, rules are understood to be elements of the computational systems that determine the sound and meaning of the infinite array of expressions of a language; the information so derived is accessed by other systems in language use.
Noam ChomskyRead
Not every book has to be loaded with symbolism, irony, or musical language, but it seems to me that every book-at least every one worth reading-is about something.
Stephen KingRead
Hillary Clinton understands that we have to invest in education and jobs for our young people, not more jails or incarceration.
Bernie SandersRead
There's an art to asking questions. Briefings are valuable but normally communicate primarily what the subordinate leader wants you to know, and often the picture they provide is incomplete.
Stanley A. McchrystalRead
My basic idea is that programming is the most powerful medium of developing the sophisticated and rigorous thinking needed for mathematics, for grammar, for physics, for statistics, for all the "hard" subjects.... In short, I believe more than ever that programming should be a key part of the intellectual development of people growing up.
Seymour PapertRead
Children love this idea that their brain is like a muscle that gets stronger as they use it.
Carol S. DweckRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.