Mary Oliver Quotes

What I dislike least in my former self are the moments of prayer.

Arranging a bowl of flowers in the morning can give a sense of quiet in a crowded day - like writing a poem or saying a prayer.

When you recognize the festive and the still moments as moments of prayer, then you gradually realize that to pray is to live.

Now I am past all comforts here, but prayer.

You've got to get out and pray to the sky to appreciate the sunshine; otherwise you're just a lizard standing there with the sun shining on you.

God has blessed me with the capacity to meditate even while I am talking.

I have created a life style that supports contemplation, service to words.

You don't necessarily have to be religious to pray.

Prayer is when you talk to God. Meditation is when you're listening. Playing the piano allows you to do both at the same time.

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

An authentic life is the most personal form of worship. Everyday life has become my prayer.

I go to the Himalayas after every film. I go alone. I go to the interiors, to the villages. Being there itself is like meditation.

I know that I pray a lot, and I take time for myself.

I pray, read the word, and then creative stuff happens here. Problem-solving and all of that comes into that space. So 'Da Box' actually represents my sanctuary and that time. I might look trapped in a box, but I'm actually more free in that box than anyone on the outside looking in or in any other space in my life.

I definitely have to pray and spend a lot of time by myself when I can.

[Prayer] takes no time, but it occupies all our time.

I don't know exactly what a prayer is. I do know how to pay attention.

Each soul must meet the morning sun, the new sweet earth and the Great Silence alone.

Meditation is the tongue of the soul and the language of our spirit; and our wandering thoughts in prayer are but the neglects of meditation and recessions from that duty; according as we neglect meditation, so are our prayers imperfect, - meditation being the soul of prayer and the intention of our spirit.

In dwelling, be close to the land. In meditation, go deep in the heart.

Ten minutes praying is better than a year's murmuring.

I pray. Prayer is a time to connect with the divine, but also time, I'm sure, to concentrate one's thoughts, to meditate, and to imagine what might be.

The beginning of prayer is silence.

Give me the clear blue sky over my head, and the green turf beneath my feet, a winding road before me, and a three hours' march to dinner - and then to thinking! ... I begin to feel, think, and be myself again. Instead of an awkward silence, broken by attempts at wit or dull common-places, mine is that undisturbed silence of the heart which alone is perfect eloquence.