01UndatedWhy should I have been surprised?Hunters walk the forestwithout a sound.The hunter, strapped to his rifle,the fox on his feet of silk,the serpent on his empire of muscles—all move in a stillness,hungry, careful, intent.Just as the cancerentered the forest of my body,without a sound.Mary Oliver / quote ↗
02UndatedBecause of the dog's joyfulness, our own is increased. It is no small gift. It is not the least reason why we should honor as love the dog of our own life, and the dog down the street, and all the dogs not yet born.Mary Oliver / quote ↗
03UndatedWe all have a hungry heart, and one of the things we hunger for is happiness. So as much as I possibly could, I stayed where I was happy. I spent a great deal of time in my younger years just writing and reading, walking around the woods in Ohio, where I grew up.Mary Oliver / quote ↗
04UndatedWe all have a hungry heart, and one of the things we hunger for is happiness. So as much as I possibly could, I stayed where I was happy.Mary Oliver / quote ↗
05UndatedIt's very important to write things down instantly, or you can lose the way you were thinking out a line. I have a rule that if I wake up at 3 in the morning and think of something, I write it down.Mary Oliver / quote ↗
06UndatedAnimals praise a good day, a good hunt. They praise rain if they're thirsty. That's prayer. They don't live an unconscious life, they simply have no language to talk about these things. But they are grateful for the good things that come along.Mary Oliver / quote ↗
07UndatedWhen it's over, I want to say: all my life I was a bride married to amazement. I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.Mary Oliver / quote ↗
08UndatedPoetry isn't a profession, it's a way of life. It's an empty basket; you put your life into it and make something out of that.Mary Oliver / quote ↗
09UndatedPoetry is one of the ancient arts, and it began as did all the fine arts, within the original wilderness of the earth.Mary Oliver / quote ↗
11UndatedPeople want poetry. They need poetry. They get it. They don't want fancy work.Mary Oliver / quote ↗
