There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.
Rita DoveRead
To practice your scales, so to speak, in order play the symphony, is what you have to do as a young poet.
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
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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Similar quotes
The written word, obviously, is very inward, and when we're reading, we're thinking. It's a sort of spiritual, meditative activity. When we're looking at visual objects, I think our eyes are obviously directed outward, so there's not as much reflective time. And it's the reflectiveness and the spiritual inwardness about reading that appeals to me.
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Musical ability is not an inborn talent but an ability which can be developed. Any child who is properly trained can develop musical ability just as all children develop the ability to speak their mother tongue. The potential of every child is unlimited.
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I am an earnest advocate of manual training and trade teaching for black boys, and for white boys, too.
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For me, books have always been a way to feel less alone while being alone. Perhaps if I was depressed and isolated, just communicating with these authors through their sentences helped me.
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Many college text-books, which were a weariness and stumbling-block when I studied, I have since read a little with pleasure and profit.
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The English language is an arsenal of weapons. If you are going to brandish them without checking to see whether or not they are loaded, you must expect to have them explode in your face from time to time.
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