Mary Oliver’s quotes often inspire and encourage us to reflect on our lives and surroundings. Her words capture the essence of living fully and appreciating the small moments.
In this blog, we’ll explore 50+ interesting quotes by Mary Oliver that offer insight into her perspective on life, nature, and personal fulfillment. Each quote provides a gentle reminder to be present and cherish the beauty in our everyday experiences.
- “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
- “I don’t want to end up simply having visited this world.”
- “The world is full of poems, but you have to be quiet to hear them.”
- “Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
- “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, let it go.”
- “And I will tell you that I have been busy trying to be free and trying to be wise.”
- “I have been in the world. I have known its beauty. But beauty is not enough.”
- “I wish I could write as mysterious as a bird in the sky.”
- “I want to be with you, and I want to be with you always.”
- “The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.”
- “Your belief in the world is a magical gift. Use it wisely.”
- “Everything is waiting for you. Everything is waiting for you to notice it.”
- “If you are a child, you will always feel that you are not alone.”
- “There are many things I would like to say to you, but I am always too tired to say them.”
- “There is a stillness that comes with the first snowfall of winter. It is a silence that is beautiful and peaceful.”
Inspirational Mary Oliver Quotes About Life
- “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.”
- “I want to live my life so that I can go to bed at night and not wonder what I did that day.”
- “Everything has a life of its own. It’s just a matter of waking up to the life.”
- “What I want in my life is to be willing to be dazzled—to cast aside the weight of facts and maybe even the facts themselves and just let the dazzle happen.”
- “The moment you think you know something, you are in trouble.”
- “One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began, though the voices around you kept shouting their bad advice.”
- “The earth is a living thing, and we are part of it.”
- “I have been given this day, and I will make the most of it.”
- “If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot.”
- “Life is a gift. Never forget to enjoy and bask in every moment you are in.”
- “It is not always easy to see the good in the world, but it is always there.”
- “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.”
- “You don’t have to be good. You don’t have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles through the desert repenting.”
- “Let the beauty we love be what we do.”
- “Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?”
More Quotes By Mary Oliver
- “You must not ever stop being whimsical. And you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life.” ― Mary Oliver, Upstream
- “Sometimes I need only to stand wherever I am to be blessed.” — Mary Oliver, It Was Early
- “In the beginning I was so young and such a stranger to myself I hardly existed. I had to go out into the world and see it and hear it and react to it, before I knew at all who I was, what I was, what I wanted to be.” — Mary Oliver, Upstream
- “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, Mysteries, Yes
- “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, Sand Dabs, Five
- “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. I want to believe I am looking into the white fire of a great mystery. I want to believe that the imperfections are nothing — that the light is everything — that it is more than the sum of each flawed blossom rising and falling. And I do.” ― Mary Oliver, House of Light
- “For me the door to the woods is the door to the temple.” — Mary Oliver, Upstream
- “Love yourself. Then forget it. Then, love the world.” — Mary Oliver, Evidence: Poems
- “Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting – over and over announcing your place in the family of things.” — Mary Oliver, Wild Geese
- “Knowledge has entertained me and it has shaped me and it has failed me. Something in me still starves.” ― Mary Oliver, Upstream
- “The world is full of magic things, patiently waiting for our senses to grow sharper.” — Mary Oliver
- “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?” — Mary Oliver, The Summer Day
- “Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?” — Mary Oliver, West Wind
- “Maybe the desire to make something beautiful is the piece of God that is inside each of us.” — Mary Oliver, Devotions
- “It is a serious thing just to be alive on this fresh morning in this broken world.” — Mary Oliver, Invitation
- “Keep some room in your heart for the Unimaginable.” — Mary Oliver, Evidence: Poems
- “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, The Uses of Sorrow
- “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
Conclusion
These quotes reflect Mary Oliver’s deep appreciation for life, nature, and the importance of being fully present. They serve as reminders to live consciously and cherish the beauty that surrounds us.
