Mary Oliver Quotes

I have a hard time doing anything someone else tells me to do! I've always been driven to follow my own path and not be pushed down another lane because some executive thought I could be more commercially successful or whatever.

I didn't follow anybody's advice, really.

I'd never jump on a bandwagon; sometimes people do that and it's not what I wanted to do.

I chose my own path because that was the only way.

I don't feel like anyone should follow what I did.

You just gotta live your life and do it your way.

I do what I want to do instead of what other people think I should do, and I'm kind of stubborn that way.

If you make a choice that goes against what everyone else thinks, the world will not fall apart.

I can be as contrary as I choose.

You must not allow yourself to be advised, cautioned, influenced, persuaded

I don't think I'm a follower, frankly.

I'm not in this world to live up to your expectations and you're not in this world to live up to mine.

I never concerned myself with other people's decisions.

I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else's whim or to someone else's ignorance.

I don't live on other people's terms.

People tell you the world looks a certain way. Parents tell you how to think. Schools tell you how to think. TV. Religion. And then at a certain point, if you're lucky, you realize you can make up your own mind. Nobody sets the rules but you. You can design your own life.

I have an aversion to being mislabeled. Here's a label I'd accept: I'm an 'individual.' I'm someone who can't follow, and doesn't want to lead.

I have the freedom to take chances, to say no. I have the freedom to be who I really want to be, rather than have to conform to this or that just to stay alive.

If I were a black liberal, I would be hailed, I guess. But I'm not. I mean, I think for myself. I want to make my own decisions.

Think for yourselves and let others enjoy the privilege to do so, too.

Don't let other people tell you what you want.

I don't want to be influenced by outside opinion.

You can wear whatever, be whatever, do whatever you want.

There is nothing people can throw at me to say: 'Do this, do that.'

They will say you are on the wrong road, if it is your own.