--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: If I have any lasting worth, it will be…" description: "\"If I have any lasting worth, it will be because I have tried to make people remember what the Earth is meant to look like.\" — Mary Oliver" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/069/mary-oliver-570_earth_if-i-have-any-lasting-worth-it-will-be-b_1904053.jpg" --- # If I have any lasting worth, it will be because I have… ![“If I have any lasting worth, it will be because I have tried to make people remember what the Earth is meant to look like.” quote by Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/069/mary-oliver-570_earth_if-i-have-any-lasting-worth-it-will-be-b_1904053.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/069/mary-oliver-570_earth_if-i-have-any-lasting-worth-it-will-be-b_1904053.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/069/mary-oliver-570_earth_if-i-have-any-lasting-worth-it-will-be-b_1904053.jpg) > “If I have any lasting worth, it will be because I have tried to make people remember what the Earth is meant to look like.” [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. The speaker hopes their legacy will be preserving Earth's beauty in collective memory. **In simple terms:** Want to be remembered for protecting nature. Key Takeaway Create works that highlight Earth's wonder. Themes environment legacy memory art activism Mood reflective inspirational Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - environmental education - public art - conservation campaigns - writing workshops Key Concepts Ecocriticism cultural memory environmental ethics Questions to Reflect On - How can you inspire others to cherish the planet? - What actions can you take to protect nature? A Different Perspective Impact may be limited without broad audience reach. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) [Earth Meant](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth-meant-1446832/) [Lasting Worth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lasting-worth-2826370/) [Look](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/look/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [People Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people-remember/) [Remember](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember/) [Remember Earth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remember-earth-735822/) [Remembered](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/remembered/) [Will](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/will/) ## Related quotes > [“The public has a short memory. That's why all these big stars do these crazy, terrible things and two years later they're back in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steve-martin/the-public-has-a-short-memory-that-s-why-all-these-big-stars-do-these/) [Steve Martin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steve-martin/) > [There are few treasures of more lasting worth than the experiences of a way of life that is in itself wholly satisfying. Such, after…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eric-shipton/there-are-few-treasures-of-more-lasting-worth-than-the-experiences-of/) [Eric Shipton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eric-shipton/) > [Happy Earth Day everyone! Remember that Earth needs to be saved every single day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/happy-earth-day-everyone-remember-that-earth-needs-to-be-saved-every/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“I was trying to get over you! And it didn’t work. I was meant to walk on this earth with only you, I was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-aleo/i-was-trying-to-get-over-you-and-it-didn-t-work-i-was-meant-to-walk/) [Toni Aleo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-aleo/) > [But the surface of the Earth was meant for man. He wasn't meant to live in a hole in the ground.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-bernds/but-the-surface-of-the-earth-was-meant-for-man-he-wasn-t-meant-to/) [Edward Bernds](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-bernds/) > [The goods of the earth are meant for everyone.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pope-francis/the-goods-of-the-earth-are-meant-for-everyone/) [Pope Francis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pope-francis/) > [“I was meant to walk on this earth with only you. I was meant to give only you every piece of me. I don’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/toni-aleo/i-was-meant-to-walk-on-this-earth-with-only-you-i-was-meant-to-give/) [Toni Aleo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/toni-aleo/) > [“remembered. Like, if we got organized, and assigned a certain number of corpses to each living person, would there be enough living people to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/remembered-like-if-we-got-organized-and-assigned-a-certain-number-of/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I want people to remember me as a guy who works hard.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rafael-dos-anjos/i-want-people-to-remember-me-as-a-guy-who-works-hard/) [Rafael dos Anjos](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rafael-dos-anjos/) > [Poetry is one of the original arts, and it began, as did all the fine arts, within the original wilderness of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/poetry-is-one-of-the-original-arts-and-it-began-as-did-all-the-fine/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [Only when we eat up this planet will God give us another. We'll be remembered more for what we destroy than what we create.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chuck-palahniuk/only-when-we-eat-up-this-planet-will-god-give-us-another-we-ll-be/) [Chuck Palahniuk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chuck-palahniuk/) > [People should remember that we are fortunate and have so many blessings.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-paulina-luna/people-should-remember-that-we-are-fortunate-and-have-so-many/) [Anna Paulina Luna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-paulina-luna/) > [“It's so eternal. As long as there are people, they can remember words and combinations of words. Nothing else can survive a holocaust, but…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-morrison/it-s-so-eternal-as-long-as-there-are-people-they-can-remember-words/) [Jim Morrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-morrison/) > [I can remember certain Manchester United defeats the way most people remember family bereavements or great political events. The four-nil drubbing by Barcelona, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-dunne/i-can-remember-certain-manchester-united-defeats-the-way-most-people/) [Tom Dunne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-dunne/) > [“We saw so many sad and helpless people. I remember looking at people on the TeeVee from other countries who was all drenched and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kim-antieau/we-saw-so-many-sad-and-helpless-people-i-remember-looking-at-people/) [Kim Antieau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kim-antieau/) ## More by Mary Oliver > [Belief isn't always easy. But this much I have learned--- if not enough else--- to live with my eyes open.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/belief-isn-t-always-easy-but-this-much-i-have-learned-if-not-enough/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [In this universe we are given two gifts: the ability to love and the ability to question. Which are, at the same time, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/in-this-universe-we-are-given-two-gifts-the-ability-to-love-and-the/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [Poetry is one of the original arts, and it began, as did all the fine arts, within the original wilderness of the earth.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/poetry-is-one-of-the-original-arts-and-it-began-as-did-all-the-fine/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [The dream of my life is to lie down by a slow river and stare at the light in the trees - to learn…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/the-dream-of-my-life-is-to-lie-down-by-a-slow-river-and-stare-at-the/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/tell-me-what-is-it-you-plan-to-do-with-your-one-wild-and-precious-life/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“All important ideas must include the trees, the mountains, and the rivers. • To understand many things you must reach out of your own condition.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/all-important-ideas-must-include-the-trees-the-mountains-and-the/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“Sometimes I think, were I just a little rougher made, I would go altogether to the woods—to my work entirely, and solitude, a few…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/sometimes-i-think-were-i-just-a-little-rougher-made-i-would-go/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“First Snow The snow began here this morning and all day continued, its white rhetoric everywhere calling us back to why, how, whence such beauty…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/first-snow-the-snow-began-here-this-morning-and-all-day-continued-its/) [mary oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“What can I say that I have not said before? So I’ll say it again. The leaf has a song in it. Stone is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/what-can-i-say-that-i-have-not-said-before-so-i-ll-say-it-again-the/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [The sea is the most beautiful face in our universe.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/the-sea-is-the-most-beautiful-face-in-our-universe/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [There is nothing better than work. Work is also play; children know that. Children play earnestly as if it were work. But people grow…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/there-is-nothing-better-than-work-work-is-also-play-children-know/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“What will you do with your one precious, wild life?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/what-will-you-do-with-your-one-precious-wild-life/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“Poetry is a life-cherishing force. For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/poetry-is-a-life-cherishing-force-for-poems-are-not-words-after-all/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“I stood like Adam in his lonely garden On that first morning, shaken out of sleep, Rubbing his eyes, listening, parting the leaves, Like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/i-stood-like-adam-in-his-lonely-garden-on-that-first-morning-shaken/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [We all have a hungry heart, and one of the things we hunger for is happiness. So as much as I possibly could, I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/we-all-have-a-hungry-heart-and-one-of-the-things-we-hunger-for-is/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) [Explore all 470 Mary Oliver quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) ## More Earth quotes > [There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-is-something-more-important-than-any-ultimate-weapon-that-is/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Well, The Day the Earth Caught Fire was a story... I don't if anybody knows what it is but it was about... in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/val-guest/well-the-day-the-earth-caught-fire-was-a-story-i-don-t-if-anybody/) [Val Guest](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/val-guest/) > [“The global population of Earth are involved in the following corporate government experiments: The long term effects of - 1. Nuclear bomb fallout radiation.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/the-global-population-of-earth-are-involved-in-the-following/) [Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/) > [When you're scared - and I mean really scared, not just hearing a noise in the night, or standing toe to toe with someone…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-gordon-smith/when-you-re-scared-and-i-mean-really-scared-not-just-hearing-a-noise/) [Alexander Gordon Smith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-gordon-smith/) > [Mythology is something that always has opportunities to explore. 'It' has been on Earth for millions of years. He's been in contact with humans…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-muschietti/mythology-is-something-that-always-has-opportunities-to-explore-it/) [Andy Muschietti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-muschietti/) > [Give me strength to walk the soft earth, a relative to all that is.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/black-elk/give-me-strength-to-walk-the-soft-earth-a-relative-to-all-that-is/) [Black Elk](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/black-elk/) > [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/) [Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/) > [Set NOT your hearts on the flowers of this world. They shall fade and die. Prize the Rose of Sharon and the Lily of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/set-not-your-hearts-on-the-flowers-of-this-world-they-shall-fade-and/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Then all this earth shines like one house.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ramana-maharshi/then-all-this-earth-shines-like-one-house/) [Ramana Maharshi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ramana-maharshi/) > [When I get a chance to play golf or go on a boat with good people, take the boat out and put some lobsters…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bernie-mac/when-i-get-a-chance-to-play-golf-or-go-on-a-boat-with-good-people/) [Bernie Mac](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bernie-mac/) > [When man of slender visits you / Nothing on earth that one can do / In well he’ll hide, or watery hole / And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-goldstein/when-man-of-slender-visits-you-nothing-on-earth-that-one-can-do-in/) [Jack Goldstein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-goldstein/) > [Cities are 2% of the earth's crust, but they are 50% of the world's population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carlo-ratti/cities-are-2-of-the-earth-s-crust-but-they-are-50-of-the-world-s/) [Carlo Ratti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carlo-ratti/) > [This, at last, was where things were as they ought to be. Everything was in its place -- the tree, the earth underneath, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jean-liedloff/this-at-last-was-where-things-were-as-they-ought-to-be-everything-was/) [Jean Liedloff](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jean-liedloff/) > [Bring into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ. Take what I cannot give: my heart, body, thoughts, time, abilities, money, health, strength,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-prentiss/bring-into-captivity-every-thought-to-the-obedience-of-christ-take/) [Elizabeth Prentiss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-prentiss/) > [What did you do to save the world today?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richie/what-did-you-do-to-save-the-world-today/) [Richie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richie/) [Browse all 15,455 Earth quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/earth/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "If I have any lasting worth, it will be because I have tried to make people remember what the Earth is meant to look like.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Oliver" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/if-i-have-any-lasting-worth-it-will-be-because-i-have-tried-to-make/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Earth" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/if-i-have-any-lasting-worth-it-will-be-because-i-have-tried-to-make/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/069/mary-oliver-570_earth_if-i-have-any-lasting-worth-it-will-be-b_1904053.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/069/mary-oliver-570_earth_if-i-have-any-lasting-worth-it-will-be-b_1904053.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/069/mary-oliver-570_earth_if-i-have-any-lasting-worth-it-will-be-b_1904053.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“If I have any lasting worth, it will be because I have tried to make people remember what the Earth is meant…” — Mary Oliver", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "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": "Mary Oliver", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "If I have any lasting worth,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/if-i-have-any-lasting-worth-it-will-be-because-i-have-tried-to-make/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/if-i-have-any-lasting-worth-it-will-be-because-i-have-tried-to-make/#breadcrumb" }, { "@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 } } ] } ```