Life & Wisdom Quote by Rita Dove

Rita Dove’s line cuts against the feel-good myth that talent is destiny. “Predisposition” is doing a lot of work here: it nods to the mysterious, partly inborn spark that people love to romanticize, then immediately refuses to let that spark become an alibi. Dove, a poet who’s moved between elite institutions and public audiences (and who’s watched genius get anointed, ignored, or quietly exhausted), knows how easily “creative” becomes an identity badge rather than a practiced discipline.

The second sentence is the blade: “It doesn’t mean they’re going to make it.” “Make it” isn’t just artistic excellence; it’s survival inside an ecosystem of grants, gatekeepers, time, health, and luck. Dove’s subtext is unsentimental and humane: the world does not distribute opportunity according to aptitude, and art is not a meritocracy that reliably rewards the most gifted. By choosing the plainest possible phrase - “make it” - she folds career, recognition, and economic stability into the same grim little package. This is less a warning to dreamers than a reality check about how culture actually functions.

There’s also a quiet ethical stance: don’t blame people who fall short, and don’t flatter yourself if you succeed. Predisposition may light the match, but the fire depends on conditions - education, mentorship, money, community, and the permission (internal and external) to keep going. Dove’s intent feels like a protective corrective: respect the gift, but respect the grind and the uneven playing field more.