I try to be good but sometimes a person just has to break out and act like the wild and springy thing one used to be. It's impossible not to remember wild an want it back.
Mary OliverRead
Emerson, I am trying to live, as you said we must, the examined life. But there are days I wish there was less in my head to examine, not to speak of the busy heart.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote reflects the struggle of introspection versus the desire for simplicity in life.
Mary Oliver expresses the challenge of striving for a thoughtful and reflective existence, as advised by Emerson, while also grappling with the overwhelming thoughts and emotions that accompany such an examination. It highlights the tension between the pursuit of a meaningful life and the burdens that come with deep introspection, suggesting a longing for a quieter mind and heart amidst the complexities of living.
Themes
IntrospectionPhilosophyEmotionsReflectionLife
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used as a reflection prompt in a yoga class focused on mindfulness.
More from Mary Oliver
All quotes →At the time I was growing up, literature was involved with the so-called confessional poets. And I was not interested in that. I did not think that specific and personal perspective functioned well for the reader at all.
Mary OliverRead
I know the sag of the unfinished poem. And I know the release of the poem that is finished.
Mary OliverRead
For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.
Mary OliverRead
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.
Mary OliverRead
Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light.
Mary OliverRead
Similar quotes
One said of suicide, As long as one has brains one should not blow them out. And another answered, But when one has ceased to have them, too often one cannot.
F. H. BradleyRead
Revenge, lust, ambition, pride, and self-will are too often exalted as the gods of man's idolatry; while holiness, peace, contentment, and humility are viewed as unworthy of a serious thought.
Charles SpurgeonRead
There's a way of life, there's a way of death. Which way are you on?
Billy GrahamRead
Beauty is worse than wine, it intoxicates both the holder and beholder.
Aldous HuxleyRead
Young men's minds are always changeable, but when an old man is concerned in a matter, he looks both before and after.
HomerRead
Distance does not decide who is your brother and who is not. The church is going to have to become the conscience of the free market if it's to have any meaning in this world - and stop being its apologist.
BonoRead