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.
Interpretation
Imagination is essential for progress in all fields, not just the arts.
Rita Dove emphasizes the crucial role of imagination as a driving force behind success across various disciplines, including science and the arts. She suggests that the ability to envision possibilities and innovate is what allows individuals and societies to progress, affirming that imagination is not confined to artistic endeavors but is a universal tool necessary for achievement in any field.
In practice
In a motivational speech about innovation at a tech conference.
There are times in life when, instead of complaining, you do something about your complaints.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Don't be so fast, you're all you've got.
There's no such thing as a painless lesson. They just don't exist. Sacrifices are necessary. You can't gain anything without losing something first although if you can endure that pain and walk away from it, you'll find that you now have a heart strong enough to overcome any obstacle. Yeah, a heart made fullmetal.
I was blessed with a sense of my own destiny. I have never sold myself short. I have never judged myself by other people's standards. I have always expected a great deal of myself, and if I fail, I fail myself. So failure or reversal does not bring out resentment in me because I cannot blame others for any misfortune that befalls me.
By our pontifical assertions, our superior impatience, and our casual brushing aside of their curiosity, we do not encourage their inquiry, for we are rather apprehensive of what may be asked of us; we do not foster their discontent, for we ourselves have ceased to question.
You have been compelled to cultivate your reflective faculties, for want of occasions for frittering your life away in silly trifles.
Humility is the mother of all virtues: the humble in spirit progress and are blessed because they willingly submit to higher powers and try to live in harmony with natural laws and universal principles. Courage is the father of all virtues; we need great courage to lead our lives by correct principles and to have integrity in the moment of choice.
The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery every day. Never lose a holy curiosity.
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