Nikki Giovanni

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

— Nikki Giovanni

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

— Nikki Giovanni

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…

— Nikki Giovanni

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…

— Nikki Giovanni

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.

— Nikki Giovanni

Poets shouldn't commit suicide. That would leave the world to those without imaginations or hearts. That would bequeath to the world a mangled syntax and no love of champagne. Poets must live in misery and ecstasy, to sing a song with the katydids. Poets should be ashamed to die before they kiss the sun.

— Nikki Giovanni

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.

— Nikki Giovanni

I appreciate and enjoy my age.

— Nikki Giovanni

His headstone said

— Nikki Giovanni

I am totally fascinated by people and our history as I understand and continue to explore it. People have so much to give and so far to go and yet we have given and gone a great distance. It's really just interesting to ask: why not? And see where that takes me.

— Nikki Giovanni

I spend a lot of time learning about bird watching.

— Nikki Giovanni

We love because it's the only true adventure.

— Nikki Giovanni

Everything will change. The only question is growing up or decaying.

— Nikki Giovanni

and if I ever touched a life i hope that life knows/that i know that touching was and still is and will always/be the true/revolution.

— Nikki Giovanni

I really don't think life is about the I-could-have-beens. Life is only about the I-tried-to-do. I don't mind the failure but I can't imagine that I'd forgive myself if I didn't try.

— Nikki Giovanni

A lot of people resist transition and therefore never allow themselves to enjoy who they are. Embrace the change, no matter what it is; once you do, you can learn about the new world you're in and take advantage of it.

— Nikki Giovanni

Art is not for the cultivated taste. It is to cultivate taste.

— Nikki Giovanni

If now isn't a good time for the truth I don't see when we'll get to it.

— Nikki Giovanni

and sometimes I sit

— Nikki Giovanni