Top 15 Nikki Giovanni Quotes

American poet, writer and activist

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Nikki Giovanni (June 7, 1943 – December 9, 2024) was an American poet, writer, commentator, activist, and educator.

From: Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0)

Birth Name: Yolande Cornelia Giovanni Jr.

Alternative Names: Yolande Cornelia Giovanni, Jr

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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.

The authority of the writer always overcomes the skepticism of the reader.

If I were advising someone on a writing career, the deal is this: write. If you get it published, good. If somebody pays you, better, because you have to eat, but the deal is you have to write.

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

...as i grew and matured
i became more sensible
and decided i would
settle down
and just become
a sweet inspiration

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

let's build
what we become
when we dream

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

There is a game I must tell you of
It's called Catch the Leader Lying
(and knowing your sense of the absurd
you will enjoy this)
...
You must invent your own games and teach us old
ones how to play

As a writer, one has to be willing to be wrong, willing to make mistakes. I’ve put everything on the table and accepted the fact that I may come up short. And, if (or when) I do, that’s okay.

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…

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…

<TABLE><TR><TD> Paint me Hopeful </TD><TD> Paint Me Futuristic </TD><TD> Paint Me Nikki </TD></TR><TR><TD></TD><TD> I'm a Poet</TD><TD></TD></TR></TABLE>

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

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