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Beauty without purpose is beauty without virtue.
But all beautiful things, inherently, have this function —
to excite the viewers toward sublime thought.
Glory to the world, that good teacher.

— Mary Oliver Evidence (2009)

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More quotes by Mary Oliver

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

New and Selected Poems (1992)

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

New and Selected Poems, Volume 2 (2005)

But also I say this: that light is an invitation to happiness, and that happiness, when it’s done right, is a kind of holiness.

Blue Iris (2004)

The most regretful people on earth are those who felt the call to creative work, who felt their own creative power restive and uprising, and gave to it neither power nor time.

Blue Pastures (1995)

Among the swans there is none called the least,
or the greatest.

Evidence (2009)

All Mary Oliver quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Mary Oliver (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.