653 Quotes by Mary Oliver

The poet must not only write the poem but must scrutinize the world intensely, or anyway that part of the world he or she has taken for subject. If the poem is thin, it is likely so not because the poet does not know enough words, but because he or she has not stood long enough among the flowers--has not seen them in any fresh, exciting, and valid way.

Because of the dog’s joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift.

You have to be in the world to understand what the spiritual is about, and you have to be spiritual in order to truly be able to accept what the world is about.

Oh, to love what is lovely, and will not last! What a task to ask of anything, or anyone, yet it is ours, and not by the century or the year, but by the hours.

Of course! The path to heaven doesn't lie down in flat miles. It's in the imagination with which you perceive this world, and the gestures with which you honor it.

I've always wanted to write poems and nothing else.

What can we do but keep on breathing in and out, modest and willing, and in our places?

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.

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