Quotes by Mary Oliver
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, to let it go.
The world offers itself, constantly. The trick is to be ready to receive it, even in its simplest forms.
The world doesn't need another critic. It needs more open hearts.
Let your heart be a garden where kindness grows wild.
What will you notice today? That is the only question worth asking.
Every day is a new poem, if you are willing to write it with your life.
Everything is blooming most recklessly; If it can bloom, let it.
Perhaps the world's second best music is the rustling of leaves in a forest. I don't know what the best is. That's for you to find.
To live fully is to risk breaking open, again and again, to the world's insistent beauty.
The greatest adventure is not in scaling mountains, but in opening your eyes to the world around you.
The smallest flower, observed with love, holds the universe in its petals.
Sometimes, the only thing you need to do is breathe, and let the world turn around you.
Don't spend your life waiting for the perfect moment. Make the moment perfect.
The path to understanding is paved with curiosity and a willingness to be wrong.
Don't bend. Don't water it down. Don't try to make it logical. Don't edit your own soul according to the fashion. Rather, follow your most intense obsessions mercilessly.
The world offers itself in whispers. Learn to listen before the wind steals the secret.
The world offers itself constantly; it is our gaze that must learn to receive.
The smallest acts of love, repeated daily, create a world of light.
The world asks little, gives much. We should strive to do the same.
I don't ask for the meaning of the song in a bird's throat. I ask only to listen.
What you pay attention to defines the landscape of your heart. Choose carefully.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Let the small joys sing. They are the chorus of a full life.
Before you speak, ask: is it beautiful? Is it kind? Is it necessary?
Our lives are a conversation with the world. What will you say?
Listen closely. The world is always whispering its secrets, if you only have the heart to hear them.
Let the quiet be your teacher. It holds more than any book.
Don't be afraid of the silence. Listen closely; that's where the universe whispers.
The truest silence is not the absence of sound, but the presence of wonder.
What if the point isn't happiness, but to be fully present in the face of everything?
The world offers itself in whispers. Learn to listen before it shouts.
Every day is a page. Write something worth reading.
There is a wildness within us all. Don't let it be tamed, let it sing.
If you listen long enough, even the weeds will tell you their story.