653 Quotes by Mary Oliver

Things take the time they take. Don’t worry.

I’ll just leave you with this. I don’t care how many angels can dance on the head of a pin. It’s enough to know that for some people, they exist, and that they dance.

How can we ever stop looking? How can we ever turn away?

Writers sometimes give up what is most strange and wonderful about their writing – soften their roughest edges – to accommodate themselves toward a group response.

In creative work – creative work of all kinds – those who are the world’s working artists are not trying to help the world go around, but forward.

All my life I have been restless – I have felt there is something more wonderful than gloss – than wholeness – than staying at home.

Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone. When I’m alone I can hear the almost unhearable sound of the roses singing. If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must love you very much.

Imagine lifting the lid from a jar and finding it filled not with darkness but with light.

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...