“What men build, in the name of security, is built of straw.”

— Mary Oliver, Winter Hours, 1999

About Mary Oliver

1935 – 2019

American poet and Pulitzer Prize winner (1984), known for her nature poetry, including 'The Summer Day'.

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

“You do not have to be good.”

“You only have to let the soft animal of your body love what it loves.”

“Let whatever appears to be the best be to you an inviolable law.”

“Lord, what fools these mortals be!”

“All that glisters is not gold.”

“Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown.”

“And one man in his time plays many parts.”

“Give every man thy ear, but few thy voice.”