Quotes by Nikki Giovanni

“We love because its the only true adventure”

“There is always something to do. There are hungry people to feed, naked people to clothe, sick people to comfort and make well. And while I dont expect you to save the world I do think its not asking too much for you to love those with whom you sleep, share the happiness of those whom you call friend, engage those among you who are visionary and remove from your live those who offer you depression, despair and disrespect.”

“Mistakes are a fact of life. It is the response to the error that counts.”

“If you dont understand yourself you dont understand anybody else.”

“We write because we believe the human spirit cannot be tamed and should not be trained.”

“It is not who you attend school with but who controls the school you attend.”

“Some say we are responsible for those we love. Others know we are responsible for those who love us.”

“dont want to be near you for the thoughts we share but the words we never have to speak.”

“Its not a ladder were climbing, its literature were producing. . . . We cannot possibly leave it to history as a discipline nor to sociology nor science nor economics to tell the story of our people.”

I love you because no two snowflakes are alike, and it is possible, if you stand tippy-toe, to walk between the raindrops.

the world is not a pleasant place to be without someone to hold and be held by.

and sometimes I sitdown at my typewriterand I thinknot of someonecause there isnt anyoneto thinkabout and i wonderis it worth it

I want to be clear about this. If you wrote from experience, youd get maybe one book, maybe three poems. Writers write from empathy.

Writers dont write from experience, although many are hesitant to admit that they dont. ...If you wrote from experience, youd get maybe one book, maybe three poems. Writers write from empathy.

If youre a writer, the answer to everything is yes.

we used to talk all nightand do things alone togetherand i’ve begun(as a reaction to a feeling)to balancethe pleasure of lonelinessagainst the painof loving you

Im told by my young friends that experience is much more important than books. Of course Ben Franklin had something to say about experience and fools, but even Franklin thought that a fool would learn by his experience. That has proven false in the modern world. Some people are simply unwilling to learn under any circumstances, which maybe, even then, wouldnt be so bad if they werent so damned proud of it.

i move on feeling and have learned to distrust those who dont.

and everybody was happy that uncle lee was able to get that scholarship even though you wondered when you could do quadratic equations in your head why you had a basketball scholarship but you always knew that you had to take what they were giving since that was all you were going to get but you never fooled yourself about either the taking or the giving or the needing or the having you just sort of said to yourself Ill have to see what is being offered

The trip to Mars can only be understood through Black Americans. I say, the trip to Mars can only be understood through Black Americans.