Nikki Giovanni Quotes

it is not unusual
that the old bury the young though it is an abomination
...those who make war
call themselves diplomats
...the unfaithful pray loudest
...we judge a man by his dreams
not alone his deeds
...by his intent
not alone his shortcomings
...it is not unusual
to know him through those who love him

if nature is true
we shall all lose our eyes
since we cannot even now distinguish
the good from the evil
...i've a mind to build
a new world
want to play

Black love is Black wealth and they'll
probably talk about my hard childhood
and never understand that
all the while I was quite happy

...how else
to spend
a rainy day
other than with you
seeking sun and stars
and heavenly bodies

Politics is personal. That, however, doesn’t mean it’s ideological. It means that one cares about what she or he is doing, what he or she is writing…

then I awoke and dug
that if i dreamed natural
dreams of being a natural
woman doing what a woman
does...
i would have a revolution

History is wonderful. We have so much we can learn if we would quit making ideology out of history, and just deal with what happened…

let's build
what we become
when we dream

if science has the most perfect language
just think of me as Mc^{<small>2</small>}
...one day
i'm gonna grab your loveand you'll be satisfied

i hope my shoulder finds a head that needs nestling
...i hope i die
warmed
by the life that i tried
to live

if it does not sing discard the ear
for poetry is song
if it does not delight discard
the heart for poetry is joy
if it does not inform then close
off the brain for it is dead
if it cannot heed the insistent message
that life is preciouswhich is all we poets
wrapped in our loneliness
are trying to say

You have to read the poem and say, “My god, that’s a good poem,” and kind of smile at yourself. If you’re not willing to do that, then you’re wasting your time, and you’re hurting yourself in another way because you’re trying to please somebody who doesn’t like you. You don’t want to get in that position.

they say you should fight the cold with the cold
but since i never do anything right
i called you

We need food for the Soul We need poetry ... We deserve poetry

I'm a big fan of the black woman and so I'm always looking at aspects of the black woman--what she's doing and how she does it.