I believe in kindness. Also in mischief. Also in singing, especially when singing is not necessarily prescribed.

Mary Oliver

And I say to my heart: rave on.

Mary Oliver

The dream of my life is to lie down by a slow river and stare at the light in the trees - to learn something by being nothing.

Mary Oliver

I don't ask for the sights in front of me to change, only the depth of my seeing.

Mary Oliver

To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work.

Mary Oliver

Instructions for living a life. Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.

Mary Oliver

One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began....

Mary Oliver

People want poetry. They need poetry. They get it. They don't want fancy work.

Mary Oliver

Around me the trees stir in their leaves and call out, Stay awhile.

Mary Oliver

So this is how you swim inward. So this is how you flow outwards. So this is how you pray.

Mary Oliver

In this universe we are given two gifts: the ability to love and the ability to question. Which are, at the same time, the fires that warm us and the fires that scorch us.

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