Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company always with those who say โLook!โ and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads. (from โMysteries, Yesโ)
Mary OliverIt is what I was born for - to look, to listen, to lose myself inside this soft world - to instruct myself over and over.
Mary OliverThere are things you canโt reach. But You can reach out to them, and all day long. The wind, the bird flying away. The idea of god. And it can keep you busy as anything else, and happier. I look; morning to night I am never done with looking. Looking I mean not just standing around, but standing around As though with your arms open.
Mary OliverIf you suddenly and unexpectedly feel joy, don't hesitate. Give in to it. There are plenty of lives and whole towns destroyed or about to be. We are not wise, and not very often kind. And much can never be redeemed. Still life has some possibility left. Perhaps this is its way of fighting back, that sometimes something happened better than all the riches or power in the world. It could be anything, but very likely you notice it in the instant when love begins. Anyway, that's often the case. Anyway, whatever it is, don't be afraid of its plenty. Joy is not made to be a crumb.
Mary Oliver