Mary Oliver Quotes

Always take time to smell the flowers, and let it fill you with beauty, and rediscover that sense of wonder.

Look up from what you're doing and look around for a minute. See what a beautiful world you're in.

The universe is in the habit of making beauty. There are flowers and songs, snowflakes and smiles, acts of great courage, laughter between friends, a job well done, the smell of fresh baked bread. Beauty is everywhere.

I realized marvelling at nature was a deep pleasure of mine.

The most beautiful gift of nature is that it gives one pleasure to look around and try to comprehend what we see.

Wherever we are we have the capacity to enjoy the sunshine, the presence of each other and the wonder of our breathing.

Around us, life bursts with miracles--a glass of water, a ray of sunshine, a leaf, a caterpillar, a flower, laughter, raindrops. If you live in awareness, it is easy to see miracles everywhere. Each human being is a multiplicity of miracles. Eyes that see thousands of colors, shapes, and forms; ears that hear a bee flying or a thunderclap; a brain that ponders a speck of dust as easily as the entire cosmos; a heart that beats in rhythm with the heartbeat of all beings. When we are tired and feel discouraged by life's daily struggles, we may not notice these miracles, but they are always there.

I thank you God for this most amazing day, for the leaping greenly spirits of trees, and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes.

There is no glory in star or blossom till looked upon by a loving eye; There is no fragrance in April breezes till breathed with joy as they wander by.

Even with all of the things that are so awful, if you walk into your yard and stay there looking at almost anything for five minutes, you will be stunned by how marvelous life is and how incredibly lucky we are to have it.

Welcome, wild harbinger of spring! To this small nook of earth; Feeling and fancy fondly cling, Round thoughts which owe their birth, To thee, and to the humble spot, Where chance has fixed thy lowly lot.

To be alive, to be able to see, to walk, to have houses, music, paintings - it's all a miracle. I have adopted the technique of living life miracle to miracle.

Stretching his hand up to reach the stars, too often man forgets the flowers at his feet.

At the entrance, my bare feet on the dirt floor, Here, gusts of heat; at my back, white clouds. I stare and stare. It seems I was called for this: To glorify things just because they are.

The sun, the earth, love, friends, our very breath are parts of the banquet.

There are always flowers for those who want to see them.

There is not one blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make us rejoice.

I have never been in a natural place and felt that it was a waste of time. I never have. And it's a relief. If I'm walking around a desert or whatever, every second is worthwhile.

I don't ask for the meaning of the song of a bird or the rising of the sun on a misty morning. There they are, and they are beautiful.

I love life. There's so much to learn and see all the time, and nothing nicer for me than to wake up, and the sky is blue.

I just find the world very exciting and beautiful everywhere.

After all, I don't see why I am always asking for private, individual, selfish miracles when every year there are miracles like white dogwood.

Pay attention to the beauty surrounding you.

I love reality. I love the world. I love the smell of it. I love it.

At some point in life the world's beauty becomes enough. You don't need to photograph, paint or even remember it. It is enough.