Mary Oliver, an esteemed poet celebrated for her awe-inspiring reflections on nature and life, has penned countless lines that resonate with readers worldwide. Her words inspire introspection, connection with the natural world, and the pursuit of a meaningful life. This article delves into her most memorable quotes, providing you with a curated selection of her poignant reflections. Each section below captures different facets of her wisdom and poetic mastery, inviting you to explore the profound simplicity that characterizes her work. Whether you're drawn to themes of nature, love, presence, or personal growth, Mary Oliver's quotes offer timeless guidance and inspiration for every avenue of life.
Nature Quotes
"To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work."
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
"I believe in kindness. Also in mischief. Also in singing, especially when singing is not necessarily prescribed."
"The sun was warm but the wind was chill. You know how it is with an April day."
"It is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in this broken world."
"You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert, repenting."
"What is the greatest gift? Could it be the world itself—the oceans, the meadowlarks, the patience of the trees in the wind?"
"Sometimes the great bones of my life feel so heavy."
"Joy is not made to be a crumb."
"I want to think again of dangerous and noble things. I want to be light and frolicsome."
"The sea can do craziness, it can do smooth, it can lie down like silk breathing or toss havoc to the sky."
"It is better for the heart to break, than not to break."
Life Quotes
"When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement."
"Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable."
"I simply do not distinguish between work and play."
"The patterns of our lives reveal us. Our habits measure us."
"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."
"I held my breath as we do sometimes to stop time when something wonderful has touched us."
"And that this must be a carpet for the moon. How thick it is, how soft it is, how this is what we must do."
"The beautiful part of writing is that you don't have to get it right the first time, unlike, say, a brain surgeon."
"Listen—are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?"
"Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination."
"You can have the other words—chance, luck, coincidence, serendipity. I'll take grace."
"The landscapes I have loved are being ruined and I’m protesting."
Love Quotes
"Love yourself. Then forget it. Then, love the world."
"Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift."
"I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world."
"In this universe we are given two gifts: the ability to love, and the ability to ask questions."
"The heart has many doors. Love the hinge."
"Happiness, when it's done right, is a kind of holiness, palpable and redemptive."
"Just as the caterpillar thought the world was over, it became a butterfly."
"Every year everything I have ever learned in my lifetime leads back to this: the fires and the black river of loss whose other side is salvation."
"Love is the one thing that everyday humans are too seldom awake enough to enjoy until it’s almost too late."
"Love lasts, the wind said heavy with sorrow."
"I saw the light falling on the pure and tidy altar of heaven."
"That point in life when you realize you have it all right: the life you have chosen is filled with love, it is yours, and within it you can do anything."
Presence Quotes
"Finally I saw that worrying had come to nothing. And gave it up. And took my old body and went out into the morning, and sang."
"Every day I walk out into the world to be dazzled, then to be reflective."
"There are things you can't reach, but you can reach out to them, all day long."
"Said the river: imagine everything you can imagine, then keep on going."
"The soul grows by subtraction, not by addition."
"Walks along the top of the coast, on the tide line, in summer. I could hear my own thought-releases dissolving into the sea foam."
"How will you ever find peace unless you yield to love?"
"You’re only here for a short visit. Don’t hurry, don’t worry. And be sure to smell the flowers along the way."
"If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate, give in to it."
"There is only one question: how to love this world."
"Each morning as I awoke, sank back, fell asleep again, I feared that the day would perforce rip the idea of myself out of me."
"In this universe we are given two gifts: the ability to love, and the ability to ask questions."
Wisdom Quotes
"Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it."
"To be creative means to be in love with life."
"I tell you this to break your heart, by which I mean only that it break open and never close again to the rest of the world."
"Knowledge has entertained me and it has shaped me and it has failed me."
"I thought the earth remembered me, she took me back so tenderly."
"How beautiful it is to sing a kind response."
"I don’t know where prayers go, or what they do."
"The only life worth living is the one you provide for yourself."
"If you take pain from any part of nature, you are in severe confusion."
"I have walked through many lives, some of them my own."
"I wake each day with the wind’s heavy song in my mouth."
"We need beauty because it makes us ache to be worthy of it."
Gratitude Quotes
"There is a moment in the morning that can never be recaptured, and that moment is the freshness and joy of a brand-new day."
"Attention is the beginning of devotion."
"Sunrise, sunrise, it is almost unbearable: the bend of light, the crisp depth of shadows."
"I tell you my life is two lives, and the alternating thread is gratitude."
"Gripping one another with wild unexpected happiness."
"A daisy blooms in the middle of the path, quiet and bold."
"When it’s over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement."
"I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world."
"Everything that can be said can be said with the scent of a flower."
"With the help of the moon, I pause, fall silent, and am deeply grateful."
"The best companion I could ask for is love, in every uncompleted and unanswerable way."
"The crickets do not stop their singing even though the heat weighs on them."
Joy Quotes
"Joy has faith in the world."
"There are so many ways to love this world, so many ways to walk in it."
"The end of the day is the time for singing."
"Walking away from life's certain malfunctions into the arms of trees, I felt as though I had been dreaming."
"I tell you this to break your heart, by which I mean only that it break open and never close again to the rest of the world."
"Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination."
"And it is exultation, hopefulness, and wonder that make it joyous."
"The light is everything. It is all that can be seen."
"I am touched by a swan, as if by a wind from a world beyond our own."
"I tell you that it is all here and now, and you must stay warm and make out of it something good."
"Give in to the one thing that makes you feel alive and glad—the joy of existence."
"In celebration, I unite my heart"
Inspiration Quotes
"Don’t let me ever hear you say you are content, I will never believe it."
"Every morning the world is created anew."
"Come, down all that is forgotten, squeeze through me."
"If your heart is broken, make art with the pieces."
"I want to be cradled like a sparrow with a broken wing across a field of tall grass."
"What you can do: love the world."
"Someone told me it's all happening at the zoo and I do believe it."
"Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?"
"The woods call with voices long silent, arguments forgotten."
"The wilderness is part of harmony."
"From my house, the rise of insects is a mystery."
"Do not wait, for this world is temporary and time is precious."
Reflection Quotes
"The singer breathes from an undivided soul."
"Leave a bit of yourself behind. The world will find it useful as manure."
"May you never stop longing; may you never stop asking questions about the world and its people."
"The thing is, to think of no other, to lay aside all other work, and rest for a moment with all the attention of your heart and mind."
"A morning-glory on the gate, a blue vase of forget-me-nots upon the table, are worth more than the most costly fabric or the rarest flowers from a hothouse."
"I write because it is an exercise in freedom."
"Thoughts on paper scattered like bread crumbs for others to follow."
"Think of what it might mean for us to slip away into a mist, to forget ourselves, to let our troubles rest like autumn leaves upon a pool."
"In the deepest parts of my heart, I can find myself longing for something indefinable."
"The arms of the birches are lovely, green, profoundly still."
"I write because I have the urge to capture the fleeting, the evanescent, the neglected on paper."
"To find eternal peace, give yourself over to nature’s will."
Resilience Quotes
"And how shall I stand here and never break into this love and longing? That would be death."
"This is the first, the wildest, and the wisest thing I know: that the soul exists and is built entirely out of attentiveness."
"Who is it that lives your mortal life? What is it that you see as you pull back the curtain on who you really are?"
"Don’t worry, just breathe. If it’s meant to be, trust your path."
"There’s no escape for those who still want to remember beauty."
"It must be difficult to be a tree, so deliberate and slow, and always between various things in the world, like me and the list of my fears."
"Even in this gloomy tangle of memories, there lies resilience, like sunlight breaking through the foliage."
"And it is enough that I shall see the golden world that lies beyond these days."
"When you cannot mend what is broken, try forging something new."
"I am grateful for the gentle strengthening of my resolve through continual loss and change."
"The thing about time is that the deeper we get, the broader our sense of what is possible becomes."
"May your heart be strong, your mind quiet, and your step sure along the path you choose."
Final words
In conclusion, Mary Oliver's quotes offer a rich tapestry of wisdom that reflects on the wonders of nature, the depth of human emotion, and the boundless realms of imagination. Each quote can be seen as an invitation to pause, ponder, and appreciate the myriad moments that compose the fabric of life. Her work encourages a deeper connection to our surroundings and to our innermost selves, reminding us of the beauty and sanctity of life. Through her words, she has created a sanctuary of thought that is both profound and accessible, offering counsel and joy in equal measure. The inspirational quotes provided here are but a small glimpse into her poetic genius, capable of igniting a passion for life in anyone who embraces them. As you carry these reflections with you, may they serve as a source of inspiration and solace, guiding you to live with intention, peace, and love.
