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

— Mary Oliver, Dream Work, 1986

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.”

“I stood willingly and gladly in the characters of everything — other people, trees, clouds.”

“If music be the food of love, play on.”

“Give all to love; obey thy heart.”

“What is done out of love always takes place beyond good and evil.”

“The spiritualization of sensuality is called love.”

“There is not love of life without despair about life.”

“The opposite of an idealist is too often a man without love.”