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98 Mary Oliver Quotes To Refresh You

Famous As: Poet, Writer
Born On: September 10, 1935
Born In: Maple Heights
Age: 87 Years

Mary Oliver is a famous American poet and non-fiction author, who won the prestigious Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award for her work “American Primitive” and “House of Light” respectively. According to the New York Times, she is “far and away, country’s best selling poet”. Her work is largely based on nature and beauty, while trying to depict the appreciation for the charms of the environment which creates joy and introspection among the readers. Her theme of writing is directed towards the simple things in life which can generate euphoria that people usually ignore to appreciate in pursuit of larger materialistic objects. Through her words, she has vividly described the true picturesque scenes which glorify the beauty of Mother Earth. We have curated some of Mary Oliver’s quotes and sayings from her books, poems and life on books, children, Earth, gratitude, heaven, love, joy, inspiration, morning, nature, poetry, rain, soul, spring, summer, teachers, universe etc. Zoom through these inspirational quotes from one of the greatest poets in our generation and perhaps gain a few admirations for this gift of god called nature.

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Tell me, what is it you plan to do 
with your one wild and precious life?

Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?

Mary Oliver
Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.

Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this too, was a gift.

Mary Oliver
Instructions for living a life. 
Pay attention. 
Be astonished. 
Tell about it.

Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.

Mary Oliver
Listen--are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?

Listen--are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?

Mary Oliver
I believe in kindness. Also in mischief. Also in singing, especially when singing is not necessarily prescribed.

I believe in kindness. Also in mischief. Also in singing, especially when singing is not necessarily prescribed.

Mary Oliver
You must not ever stop being whimsical. And you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life.

You must not ever stop being whimsical. And you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life.

Mary Oliver
Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.

Keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable.

Mary Oliver
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.

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.

Mary Oliver
Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields...Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.

Hello, sun in my face. Hello you who made the morning and spread it over the fields...Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.

Mary Oliver
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.

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.

Mary Oliver
Sometimes I need
only to stand
wherever I am 
to be blessed.

Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed.

Mary Oliver
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.

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.

Mary Oliver
You can have the other words-chance, luck, coincidence, serendipity. I'll take grace. I don't know what it is exactly, but I'll take it.

You can have the other words-chance, luck, coincidence, serendipity. I'll take grace. I don't know what it is exactly, but I'll take it.

Mary Oliver
Still, what I want in my life
is to be willing
to be dazzled—
to cast aside the weight of facts

and maybe even
to float a little
above this difficult world.

Still, what I want in my life is to be willing to be dazzled— to cast aside the weight of facts and maybe even to float a little above this difficult world.

Mary Oliver
To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.

To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.

Mary Oliver
The Uses Of Sorrow

(In my sleep I dreamed this poem)

Someone I loved once gave me
a box full of darkness.

It took me years to understand
that this, too, was a gift.

The Uses Of Sorrow (In my sleep I dreamed this poem) Someone I loved once gave me a box full of darkness. It took me years to understand that this, too, was a gift.

Mary Oliver
Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.

Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.

Mary Oliver
Love yourself. Then forget it.
Then, love the world.

Love yourself. Then forget it. Then, love the world.

Mary Oliver
I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

Mary Oliver
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
With your one wild and precious life?

Tell me, what else should I have done? Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon? Tell me, what is it you plan to do With your one wild and precious life?

Mary Oliver
It is better for the heart to break, than not to break.

It is better for the heart to break, than not to break.

Mary Oliver

"Snow was falling, so much like stars filling the dark trees that one could easily imagine its reason for being was nothing more than prettiness.

Mary Oliver
When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement.

--from WHEN DEATH COMES

When it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. --from WHEN DEATH COMES

Mary Oliver
I read the way a person might swim, to save his or her life. I wrote that way too.

I read the way a person might swim, to save his or her life. I wrote that way too.

Mary Oliver
So every day
I was surrounded by the beautiful crying forth 
of the ideas of God,
one of which was you.

So every day I was surrounded by the beautiful crying forth of the ideas of God, one of which was you.

Mary Oliver
Maybe death
isn't darkness, after all,
but so much light
wrapping itself around us--

Maybe death isn't darkness, after all, but so much light wrapping itself around us--

Mary Oliver
He is exactly the poem I wanted to write.

He is exactly the poem I wanted to write.

Mary Oliver
Said the river: imagine everything you can imagine, then keep on going.

Said the river: imagine everything you can imagine, then keep on going.

Mary Oliver
It is a serious thing // just to be alive / on this fresh morning / in this broken world.

It is a serious thing // just to be alive / on this fresh morning / in this broken world.

Mary Oliver
The stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own

The stars began to burn through the sheets of clouds, and there was a new voice which you slowly recognized as your own

Mary Oliver
I held my breath as we do sometimes to stop time when something wonderful has touched us...

I held my breath as we do sometimes to stop time when something wonderful has touched us...

Mary Oliver
Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light.

Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light.

Mary Oliver
I believe in kindness. Also in mischief.

I believe in kindness. Also in mischief.

Mary Oliver
And now I understand something so frightening &wonderful-

how the mind clings to the road it knows,
rushing through crossroads, sticking

like lint to the familiar.

And now I understand something so frightening &wonderful- how the mind clings to the road it knows, rushing through crossroads, sticking like lint to the familiar.

Mary Oliver
I know many lives worth living.

I know many lives worth living.

Mary Oliver
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.

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.

Mary Oliver
But I also say this: that light is an invitation to happiness, and that happiness, when it's done right, is a kind of holiness, palpable and redemptive.

But I also say this: that light is an invitation to happiness, and that happiness, when it's done right, is a kind of holiness, palpable and redemptive.

Mary Oliver
Also I wanted to be able to love
And we all know how that one goes, don't we?
Slowly

Also I wanted to be able to love And we all know how that one goes, don't we? Slowly

Mary Oliver
Do you love this world? 
Do you cherish your humble and silky life? 
Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?

Do you love this world? Do you cherish your humble and silky life? Do you adore the green grass, with its terror beneath?

Mary Oliver
Love, love, love, says Percy.
And hurry as fast as you can
along the shining beach, or the rubble, or the dust.

Then, go to sleep.
Give up your body heat, your beating heart.
Then, trust.

Love, love, love, says Percy. And hurry as fast as you can along the shining beach, or the rubble, or the dust. Then, go to sleep. Give up your body heat, your beating heart. Then, trust.

Mary Oliver
What misery to be afraid of death.
What wretchedness, to believe only in what can be proven.

What misery to be afraid of death. What wretchedness, to believe only in what can be proven.

Mary Oliver
So come to the pond,
 or the river of your imagination,
 or the harbor of your longing,

and put your lips to the world.

And live
 your life.

So come to the pond, or the river of your imagination, or the harbor of your longing, and put your lips to the world. And live your life.

Mary Oliver
Emerson, I am trying to live, as you said we must, the examined life. But there are days I wish there was less in my head to examine, not to speak of the busy heart.

Emerson, I am trying to live, as you said we must, the examined life. But there are days I wish there was less in my head to examine, not to speak of the busy heart.

Mary Oliver
It's not a competition, it's a doorway.

It's not a competition, it's a doorway.

Mary Oliver
If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it.

If you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don’t hesitate. Give in to it.

Mary Oliver
And now you'll be telling stories
of my coming back
and they won't be false, and they won't be true
but they'll be real

And now you'll be telling stories of my coming back and they won't be false, and they won't be true but they'll be real

Mary Oliver
And to tell the truth I don't want to let go of the wrists of idleness, I don't want to sell my life for money, I don't even want to come in out of the rain.

And to tell the truth I don't want to let go of the wrists of idleness, I don't want to sell my life for money, I don't even want to come in out of the rain.

Mary Oliver
My work is the world. Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird - equal seekers of sweetness. Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums...

My work is the world. Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird - equal seekers of sweetness. Here the quickening yeast; there the blue plums...

Mary Oliver
I feel the terror of idleness,
like a red thirst.
Death isn't just an idea.

I feel the terror of idleness, like a red thirst. Death isn't just an idea.

Mary Oliver
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.

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.

Mary Oliver
Let me keep my distance, always, from those 
who think they have the answers.

Let me keep company always with those who say

Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company always with those who say "Look!" and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads.

Mary Oliver
Sunrise

What is the name
of the deep breath I would take
over and over
for all of us? Call it

whatever you want, it is
happiness, it is another one
of the ways to enter
fire.

Sunrise What is the name of the deep breath I would take over and over for all of us? Call it whatever you want, it is happiness, it is another one of the ways to enter fire.

Mary Oliver
I try to be good but sometimes
a person just has to break out and
act like the wild and springy thing
one used to be. It's impossible not
to remember wild an want it back.

I try to be good but sometimes a person just has to break out and act like the wild and springy thing one used to be. It's impossible not to remember wild an want it back.

Mary Oliver
Poetry is a life-cherishing force.

Poetry is a life-cherishing force.

Mary Oliver
What will you do with your one precious, wild life?

What will you do with your one precious, wild life?

Mary Oliver
Far off in the red mangroves an alligator has heaved himself onto a hummock of grass and lies there, studying his poems.

Far off in the red mangroves an alligator has heaved himself onto a hummock of grass and lies there, studying his poems.

Mary Oliver
For some things there are no wrong seasons. Which is what I dream of for me.

For some things there are no wrong seasons. Which is what I dream of for me.

Mary Oliver
Every morning I walk like this around
the pond, thinking: if the doors of my heart ever close, I am as good as dead.

Every morning I walk like this around the pond, thinking: if the doors of my heart ever close, I am as good as dead.

Mary Oliver
We need beauty because it makes us ache to be worthy of it.

We need beauty because it makes us ache to be worthy of it.

Mary Oliver
I know I can walk through the world, along the shore or under the trees, with my mind filled with things of little importance, in full self-attendance. A condition I can't really call being alive.

I know I can walk through the world, along the shore or under the trees, with my mind filled with things of little importance, in full self-attendance. A condition I can't really call being alive.

Mary Oliver
When will you have a little pity for every soft thing that walks through the world, yourself included.

When will you have a little pity for every soft thing that walks through the world, yourself included.

Mary Oliver
The man who has many answers
is often found
in the theaters of information
where he offers, graciously,
his deep findings.

While the man who has only questions,
to comfort himself, makes music.

The man who has many answers is often found in the theaters of information where he offers, graciously, his deep findings. While the man who has only questions, to comfort himself, makes music.

Mary Oliver
The face of the moose is as sad as the face of Jesus.

The face of the moose is as sad as the face of Jesus.

Mary Oliver
THREE THINGS TO REMEMBER As long as you’re dancing, you can break the rules. Sometimes breaking the rules is just extending the rules. Sometimes there are no rules.

THREE THINGS TO REMEMBER As long as you’re dancing, you can break the rules. Sometimes breaking the rules is just extending the rules. Sometimes there are no rules.

Mary Oliver
A dog can never tell you what she knows from the
smells of the world, but you know, watching her,
that you know
almost nothing.

A dog can never tell you what she knows from the smells of the world, but you know, watching her, that you know almost nothing.

Mary Oliver
I have a little dog who likes to nap with me.
He climbs on my body and puts his face in my neck.
He is sweeter than soap.
He is more wonderful than a diamond necklace,
which can't even bark...

I have a little dog who likes to nap with me. He climbs on my body and puts his face in my neck. He is sweeter than soap. He is more wonderful than a diamond necklace, which can't even bark...

Mary Oliver
Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry. Yes indeed.

Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry. Yes indeed.

Mary Oliver
There are a hundred paths through the world that are easier than loving. But, who wants easier?

There are a hundred paths through the world that are easier than loving. But, who wants easier?

Mary Oliver
After a cruel childhood, one must reinvent oneself. Then reimagine the world.

After a cruel childhood, one must reinvent oneself. Then reimagine the world.

Mary Oliver
Always there is something worth saying
about glory, about gratitude.

Always there is something worth saying about glory, about gratitude.

Mary Oliver
And I do not want anymore to be useful, to be docile, to lead / children out of the fields into the text / of civility, to teach them that they are (they are not) better than the grass.

And I do not want anymore to be useful, to be docile, to lead / children out of the fields into the text / of civility, to teach them that they are (they are not) better than the grass.

Mary Oliver
You’re like a little wild thing
that was never sent to school.

You’re like a little wild thing that was never sent to school.

Mary Oliver
Therefore, dark past,
I’m about to do it.
I’m about to forgive you

for everything.

Therefore, dark past, I’m about to do it. I’m about to forgive you for everything.

Mary Oliver
Though I play at the edges of knowing, 
truly I know 
our part is not knowing, 
but looking, and touching, and loving

Though I play at the edges of knowing, truly I know our part is not knowing, but looking, and touching, and loving

Mary Oliver
When it's over, I want to say all my life I was a bride married to amazement.

When it's over, I want to say all my life I was a bride married to amazement.

Mary Oliver
Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell others.

Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell others.

Mary Oliver
Come with me into the woods where spring is
advancing, as it does, no matter what,
not being singular or particular, but one
of the forever gifts, and certainly visible.

Come with me into the woods where spring is advancing, as it does, no matter what, not being singular or particular, but one of the forever gifts, and certainly visible.

Mary Oliver
Knowledge has entertained me and it has shaped me and it has failed me. Something in me still starves.

Knowledge has entertained me and it has shaped me and it has failed me. Something in me still starves.

Mary Oliver
Listen, whatever you see and love—
that’s where you are.

Listen, whatever you see and love— that’s where you are.

Mary Oliver
It must be a great disappointment to God if we are not dazzled at least ten times a day.

It must be a great disappointment to God if we are not dazzled at least ten times a day.

Mary Oliver
You are young. So you know everything. You leap into the boat and begin rowing. But, listen to me. Without fanfare, without embarrassment, without doubt,I talk directly to your soul. Listen to me.

You are young. So you know everything. You leap into the boat and begin rowing. But, listen to me. Without fanfare, without embarrassment, without doubt,I talk directly to your soul. Listen to me.

Mary Oliver
As long as you're dancing, you can 
Break the rules.
Sometimes breaking the rules is just
Extending the rules.

Sometimes there are no rules.

As long as you're dancing, you can Break the rules. Sometimes breaking the rules is just Extending the rules. Sometimes there are no rules.

Mary Oliver
Sometimes I really believe it, that I am going to
save my life

a little.

Sometimes I really believe it, that I am going to save my life a little.

Mary Oliver
Things take the time they take.
Don't worry.
How many roads did St. Augustine follow before he became St. Augustine?

Things take the time they take. Don't worry. How many roads did St. Augustine follow before he became St. Augustine?

Mary Oliver
Be prepared. A dog is adorable and noble.
A dog is a true and loving friend. A dog
is also a hedonist.

Be prepared. A dog is adorable and noble. A dog is a true and loving friend. A dog is also a hedonist.

Mary Oliver
Oh Lord of melons, of mercy, though I am not ready, nor worthy, I am climbing towards you.

Oh Lord of melons, of mercy, though I am not ready, nor worthy, I am climbing towards you.

Mary Oliver
It is the nature of stone to be satisfied. It is the nature of water to want to be somewhere else.

It is the nature of stone to be satisfied. It is the nature of water to want to be somewhere else.

Mary Oliver
How could there be a day in your whole life that doesn’t have its splash of happiness?

How could there be a day in your whole life that doesn’t have its splash of happiness?

Mary Oliver
The resurrection of the morning.
The mystery of the night.
The hummingbird's wings.
The excitement of thunder.
The rainbow in the waterfall.
Wild mustard, that rough blaze of the fields.

The resurrection of the morning. The mystery of the night. The hummingbird's wings. The excitement of thunder. The rainbow in the waterfall. Wild mustard, that rough blaze of the fields.

Mary Oliver
...because my life without you would be
a place of parched and broken trees...

...because my life without you would be a place of parched and broken trees...

Mary Oliver
Look, hasn't my body already felt like the body of a flower?

Look, hasn't my body already felt like the body of a flower?

Mary Oliver
Love, love, love, says Percy.
And run as fast as you can
along the shining beach, or the rubble, or the dust.

Then, go to sleep.
Give up your body heat, your beating heart.
Then, trust.

Love, love, love, says Percy. And run as fast as you can along the shining beach, or the rubble, or the dust. Then, go to sleep. Give up your body heat, your beating heart. Then, trust.

Mary Oliver
You too can be carved anew by the details of your devotion.

You too can be carved anew by the details of your devotion.

Mary Oliver
Joy is not made to be a crumb. (Don't Hesitate)

Joy is not made to be a crumb. (Don't Hesitate)

Mary Oliver
My work is loving the world. Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird—equal seekers of sweetness.

My work is loving the world. Here the sunflowers, there the hummingbird—equal seekers of sweetness.

Mary Oliver
The poem in which the reader does not feel himself or herself a participant is a lecture, listened to from an uncomfortable chair, in a stuffy room, inside a building.

The poem in which the reader does not feel himself or herself a participant is a lecture, listened to from an uncomfortable chair, in a stuffy room, inside a building.

Mary Oliver
Sing, if you can sing, and it not still be
musical inside yourself.

Sing, if you can sing, and it not still be musical inside yourself.

Mary Oliver
How shall I touch you unless it is everywhere?

How shall I touch you unless it is everywhere?

Mary Oliver