Mary Oliver

“I know the sag of the unfinished poem. And I know the release of the poem that is finished.”

“I've always wanted to write poems and nothing else.”

“I would rather write poems than prose, any day, any place. Yet each has its own force.”

“I learn a lot about my poems when I read them by the way people respond to them.”

“I acknowledge my feeling and gratitude for life by praising the world and whoever made all these things.”

“Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”

“I worked probably 25 years by myself, just writing and working, not trying to publish much, not giving readings.”

“I have the feeling that a lot of poets writing now are - they sort of tap dance through it.”

“In college, you learn how to learn. Four years is not too much time to spend at that.”

“I believe art is utterly important. It is one of the things that could save us.”

“If I've done my work well, I vanish completely from the scene. I believe it is invasive of the work when you know too much about the writer.”

“If I have any lasting worth, it will be because I have tried to make people remember what the Earth is meant to look like.”