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25 Noteworthy Quotes By Lucille Clifton

Famous As: American Poet, Writer and Educator
Born On: June 27, 1936
Died On: February 13, 2010
Born In: New York, United States
Died At Age: 73

Lucile Clifton was an American poet and educator, famous for her works ‘My Black Me: A Beginning Book of Black Poetry’, ‘A Poem of Her Own: Voices of American Women Yesterday and Today’ and ‘Black Stars: African American Women Writers’. She worked as the poet laureate of Maryland for more than 6 years, and nominated twice for the prestigious Pulitzer Prize for poetry. Her main theme of writing was loosely based on the struggles and injustice faced by the African-American female community in the midst of Slavery in the United States. Clifton’s endless list of accolades includes Shelley Memorial Award, National Book Award for Poetry, the Charity Randall prize, the Jerome J. Shestack Prize from the American Poetry Review, and an Emmy Award. This writer also received grants and fellowships from esteemed institutions such as National Endowment for the Arts and the Academy of American Poets. We have compiled her notable quotes and thoughts from her writings, articles, speeches etc. Here are some inspiring quotes and lines from this American icon.

You might as well answer the door, my child,
the truth is furiously knocking.

You might as well answer the door, my child, the truth is furiously knocking.

Lucille Clifton
May you kiss
the wind then turn from it
certain that it will
love your back

May you kiss the wind then turn from it certain that it will love your back

Lucille Clifton
The lesson of the falling leaves

the leaves believe
such letting go is love
such love is faith
such faith is grace
such grace is god
i agree with the leaves

The lesson of the falling leaves the leaves believe such letting go is love such love is faith such faith is grace such grace is god i agree with the leaves

Lucille Clifton
Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.

Every pair of eyes facing you has probably experienced something you could not endure.

Lucille Clifton
They ask me to remember
but they want me to remember
their memories
and I keep on remembering mine

They ask me to remember but they want me to remember their memories and I keep on remembering mine

Lucille Clifton
What they call you is one thing. What you answer to is something else.

What they call you is one thing. What you answer to is something else.

Lucille Clifton
We cannot create what we can't imagine.

We cannot create what we can't imagine.

Lucille Clifton
People wish to be poets more than they wish to write poetry, and that's a mistake. One should wish to celebrate more than one wishes to be celebrated.

People wish to be poets more than they wish to write poetry, and that's a mistake. One should wish to celebrate more than one wishes to be celebrated.

Lucille Clifton
I come to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.

I come to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable.

Lucille Clifton
Come celebrate with me that every day something has tried to kill me and has failed.

Come celebrate with me that every day something has tried to kill me and has failed.

Lucille Clifton
Who among us can imagine ourselves unimagined? who among us can speak with so fragile tongue and remain proud?

Who among us can imagine ourselves unimagined? who among us can speak with so fragile tongue and remain proud?

Lucille Clifton
They will empty your eyes of everything you love

They will empty your eyes of everything you love

Lucille Clifton
I am a black woman poet and I sound like one.

I am a black woman poet and I sound like one.

Lucille Clifton
A tongue blistered with smiling

A tongue blistered with smiling

Lucille Clifton
I am rejuvenated bones rising from the dear floor where they found you

I am rejuvenated bones rising from the dear floor where they found you

Lucille Clifton
Dreaming your x-ray vision could see the beauty in me.

Dreaming your x-ray vision could see the beauty in me.

Lucille Clifton
So many languages have fallen off the edge of the world

So many languages have fallen off the edge of the world

Lucille Clifton
They are shrouding words so that families cannot find them.

They are shrouding words so that families cannot find them.

Lucille Clifton
Poetry is a matter of life, not just a matter of language.

Poetry is a matter of life, not just a matter of language.

Lucille Clifton
Walked erect out of my sleep

Walked erect out of my sleep

Lucille Clifton
Her dangling braids the color of rain.

Her dangling braids the color of rain.

Lucille Clifton
And at night my dreams are full of the cursing of me fucking god fucking me.

And at night my dreams are full of the cursing of me fucking god fucking me.

Lucille Clifton
Was my first landscape, red brown as the clay of her georgia.

Was my first landscape, red brown as the clay of her georgia.

Lucille Clifton
You are the one 
I am lit for.

Come with your rod 
that twists 
and is a serpent.

I am the bush. 
I am burning 
I am not consumed.

You are the one I am lit for. Come with your rod that twists and is a serpent. I am the bush. I am burning I am not consumed.

Lucille Clifton
The literature of America should reflect the children of America.

The literature of America should reflect the children of America.

Lucille Clifton