Renowned poet Mary Oliver has left an indelible mark on the literary world with her profound and evocative words. Her poetry is often described as a celebration of nature and life, capturing the beauty and essence of the natural world. Throughout her career, Oliver penned numerous poems that continue to resonate with readers, offering profound insights and inspiring reflections on life, love, and the human experience.
In this article, we will explore some of Mary Oliver’s most memorable quotes that have touched the hearts and minds of people from all walks of life. These quotes serve as gentle reminders to slow down, appreciate the simple joys of life, and reconnect with the natural world around us.
So, let’s embark on a journey through Mary Oliver’s words, and allow her wisdom to awaken our souls and ignite our love for life.
Read these Mary Oliver Quotes
“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
“Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
“You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting. You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”
“Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.”
“The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.”
“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”
“I want to think again of dangerous and noble things. I want to be light and frolicsome. I want to be improbable, beautiful, and afraid of nothing, as though I had wings.”
“The world’s otherness is antidote to confusion, that standing within this otherness – the beauty and the mystery of the world, out in the fields or deep inside books – can re-dignify the worst-stung heart.”
“When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.”
“In the world I am one too many and in myself I am alone, but here in the woods I am like a happy child again.”
“The most beautiful thing in the world is, of course, the world itself.”
“I believe in kindness. Also in mischief.”
“Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.”
“Listen—are you breathing just a little and calling it a life?”
“I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.”
“It is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in this broken world.”
“I want the light everywhere.”
“Ordinary riches can be stolen, real riches cannot. In your soul are infinitely precious things that cannot be taken from you.”
“To live in this world, you must be able to do three things: to love what is mortal; to hold it against your bones knowing your own life depends on it; and when the time comes to let it go, to let it go.”
“Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
These quotes are just a glimpse into the wisdom and beauty that Mary Oliver’s poetry holds. Her words have the power to awaken our senses, inspire us to live fully, and remind us of the interconnectedness of all living beings. Take a moment to reflect on these quotes, and allow Mary Oliver’s profound insights to guide you on your journey of self-discovery and appreciation for the world around you.
Remember, in the words of Mary Oliver herself, “Attention is the beginning of devotion.” So, let us pay attention, be astonished, and share the beauty we find in the world.
