---
title: "2 Grove Quotes By Annie Dillard"
description: "2 Grove quotes by Annie Dillard. Plus more from Annie Dillard and more Grove sayings from other authors."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dd/annie-dillard-509_burning_it-is-difficult-to-undo-our-own-damage-a_524426.jpg"
---

> [It is difficult to undo our own damage, and to recall to our presence that which we have asked to leave. It is hard to desecrate a grove and change your mind. The very holy mountains are keeping mum. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-is-difficult-to-undo-our-own-damage-and-to-recall-to-our-presence/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dd/annie-dillard-509_burning_it-is-difficult-to-undo-our-own-damage-a_524426.jpg)

> [We are here to witness. There is nothing else to do with those mute materials we do not need. Until Larry teaches his stone to talk, until God changes his mind, or until the pagan gods slip back to their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/we-are-here-to-witness-there-is-nothing-else-to-do-with-those-mute/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

[Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/annie-dillard-509_grove_we-are-here-to-witness-there-is-nothing_1513860.jpg)

## Other authors on Grove

## More by Annie Dillard

> [Like everyone in his right mind, I feared Santa Claus.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/like-everyone-in-his-right-mind-i-feared-santa-claus/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [“This is a spendthrift economy; though nothing is lost, all is spent.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/this-is-a-spendthrift-economy-though-nothing-is-lost-all-is-spent/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [The creatures I seek do not want to be seen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-creatures-i-seek-do-not-want-to-be-seen/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [Nothing moves a woman so deeply as the boyhood of the man she loves.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/nothing-moves-a-woman-so-deeply-as-the-boyhood-of-the-man-she-loves/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [We live in all we seek. The hidden shows up in too-plain sight. It lives captive on the face of the obvious - the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/we-live-in-all-we-seek-the-hidden-shows-up-in-too-plain-sight-it/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [“...The mockingbird took a single step into the air and dropped. His wings were still folded against his sides as though he were singing…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-mockingbird-took-a-single-step-into-the-air-and-dropped-his-wings/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [“Father had stretched out his long legs and was tilting back in his chair. Mother sat with her knees crossed, in blue slacks, smoking…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/father-had-stretched-out-his-long-legs-and-was-tilting-back-in-his/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [I am a frayed and nibbled survivor in a fallen world, and I am getting along. I am aging and eaten and have done…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-frayed-and-nibbled-survivor-in-a-fallen-world-and-i-am-getting/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [It should surprise no one that the life of the writer - such as it is - is colorless to the point of sensory…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-should-surprise-no-one-that-the-life-of-the-writer-such-as-it-is/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [It is madness to wear ladies' straw hats and velvet hats to church; we should all be wearing crash helmets. Ushers should issue life…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-is-madness-to-wear-ladies-straw-hats-and-velvet-hats-to-church-we/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [The sense impressions of one-celled animals are not edited for the brain. This is philosophically interesting in a rather mournful way, since it means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/the-sense-impressions-of-one-celled-animals-are-not-edited-for-the/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [“What can we make of the inexpressible joy of children? It is a kind of gratitude, I think—the gratitude of the ten-year-old who wakes…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/what-can-we-make-of-the-inexpressible-joy-of-children-it-is-a-kind-of/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [“If we were to judge nature by its common sense or likelihood, we wouldn't believe the world existed. In nature, improbabilities are the one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/if-we-were-to-judge-nature-by-its-common-sense-or-likelihood-we/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [For writing a first draft requires from the writer a peculiar internal state which ordinary life does not induce. ... how to set yourself spinning?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/for-writing-a-first-draft-requires-from-the-writer-a-peculiar/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

> [I am a fugitive and a vagabond, a sojourner seeking signs.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/i-am-a-fugitive-and-a-vagabond-a-sojourner-seeking-signs/)

[Annie Dillard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/annie-dillard/)

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "ItemList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grove/annie-dillard/#itemlist",
            "name": "2 Grove Quotes By Annie Dillard",
            "numberOfItems": 2,
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "It is difficult to undo our own damage, and to recall to our presence that which we have asked to leave. It is hard to desecrate a grove and change your mind. The very holy mountains are keeping mum. We doused the burning bush and cannot rekindle it; we are lighting matches in vain under every green tree.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Annie Dillard"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/it-is-difficult-to-undo-our-own-damage-and-to-recall-to-our-presence/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dd/annie-dillard-509_burning_it-is-difficult-to-undo-our-own-damage-a_524426.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dd/annie-dillard-509_burning_it-is-difficult-to-undo-our-own-damage-a_524426.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dd/annie-dillard-509_burning_it-is-difficult-to-undo-our-own-damage-a_524426.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“It is difficult to undo our own damage, and to recall to our presence that which we have asked to leave. It…” — Annie Dillard",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "item": {
                        "@type": "Quotation",
                        "text": "We are here to witness. There is nothing else to do with those mute materials we do not need. Until Larry teaches his stone to talk, until God changes his mind, or until the pagan gods slip back to their hilltop groves, all we can do with the whole inhuman array is watch it.",
                        "creator": {
                            "@type": "Person",
                            "name": "Annie Dillard"
                        },
                        "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/annie-dillard/we-are-here-to-witness-there-is-nothing-else-to-do-with-those-mute/",
                        "image": {
                            "@type": "ImageObject",
                            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/annie-dillard-509_grove_we-are-here-to-witness-there-is-nothing_1513860.jpg",
                            "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/annie-dillard-509_grove_we-are-here-to-witness-there-is-nothing_1513860.jpg",
                            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/18c/annie-dillard-509_grove_we-are-here-to-witness-there-is-nothing_1513860.jpg",
                            "width": 1080,
                            "height": 1080,
                            "caption": "“We are here to witness. There is nothing else to do with those mute materials we do not need. Until Larry…” — Annie Dillard",
                            "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                            "creator": {
                                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                            }
                        }
                    }
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "CollectionPage",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grove/annie-dillard/#webpage",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grove/annie-dillard/",
            "name": "Grove Quotes by Annie Dillard",
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "mainEntity": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grove/annie-dillard/#itemlist"
            },
            "primaryImageOfPage": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/4dd/annie-dillard-509_burning_it-is-difficult-to-undo-our-own-damage-a_524426.jpg"
            },
            "description": "2 Grove quotes by Annie Dillard. Plus more from Annie Dillard and more Grove sayings from other authors.",
            "breadcrumb": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grove/annie-dillard/#breadcrumb"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grove/annie-dillard/#breadcrumb",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Topics",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/categories/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "Grove",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grove/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 5,
                    "name": "Annie Dillard",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/grove/annie-dillard/"
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```