“I believe you did not have a happy life.I believe you were cheated.I believe your best friends were loneliness and misery.I believe your busiest enemies were anger and depression.I believe joy was a game you could never play without stumbling.I believe comfort, though you craved it, was forever a stranger.I believe music had to be melancholy or not at all.I believe no trinket, no precious metal, shone so bright as your bitterness.I believe you lay down at last in your coffin none the wiser and unassuaged.Oh, cold and dreamless under the wild, amoral, reckless, peaceful flowers of the hillsides.”

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Originally said in English.

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About Mary Oliver

American poet

Mary Oliver was an American poet whose work reached wide audiences, and who won the Pulitzer Prize in 1984 and the National Book Award in 1992. She is known for poetry shaped by close attention to the natural world. Her writing draws much of its force from nature, solitary walks, and a lasting sense of wonder. It is marked by vivid images, spiritual feeling, and plain language, qualities that made her one of the best-selling poets in American history.

More from Mary Oliver (131 quotes) →

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Books by Mary Oliver

Dog Songs

2014

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A thousand mornings

2012

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Blue horses

2014

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Devotions

2017

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