“Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.”
— 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.”
— Mary Oliver“You must not ever stop being whimsical. And you must not, ever, give anyone else the responsibility for your life.”
— Mary Oliver“A dog can never tell you what she knows from thesmells of the world, but you know, watching her,that you knowalmost nothing.”
— Mary Oliver“to live in this worldyou must be ableto do three thingsto love what is mortal;to hold itagainst your bones knowingyour own life depends on it;and, when the time comes to let it go,to let it go”
— 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.”
— Mary Oliver“To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.”
— 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 Look! and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads.”
— Mary OliverIf I've done my work well, I vanish completely from the scene. I believe it is invasive of the work when you know too much about the writer.
— Mary Oliver