--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: it is a serious thing // just to be alive…" description: "\"it is a serious thing // just to be alive / on this fresh morning / in this broken world.\" — Mary Oliver" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/mary-oliver-570_alive_it-is-a-serious-thing-just-to-be-alive-o_208295.jpg" --- # it is a serious thing // just to be alive / on this fresh… ![“it is a serious thing // just to be alive / on this fresh morning / in this broken world.” quote by Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/mary-oliver-570_alive_it-is-a-serious-thing-just-to-be-alive-o_208295.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/mary-oliver-570_alive_it-is-a-serious-thing-just-to-be-alive-o_208295.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/mary-oliver-570_alive_it-is-a-serious-thing-just-to-be-alive-o_208295.jpg) > “it is a serious thing // just to be alive / on this fresh morning / in this broken world.” [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. Recognizing life’s seriousness in the simple act of being alive each morning, despite a broken world. **In simple terms:** Life is serious just by being alive each day. Key Takeaway Appreciate each morning’s existence. Themes existence mindfulness fragility Mood reflective somber Type philosophical poetic When to use this quote - daily reflection - morning routine - coping with hardship Key Concepts existentialism gratitude Questions to Reflect On - How does acknowledging seriousness affect your daily outlook? - What small joys counterbalance this weight? A Different Perspective Life’s seriousness can feel overwhelming without hope. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) [Broken world](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/broken-world/) [Morning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/morning/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“The song goes, “Morning has broken,” and I’m pretty sure my children broke it. Like everything else they break, if they did break it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jim-gaffigan/the-song-goes-morning-has-broken-and-i-m-pretty-sure-my-children/) [Jim Gaffigan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jim-gaffigan/) > [But the Bible says, even though we may blow it every day, God's mercy is fresh for us every morning.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kathie-lee-gifford/but-the-bible-says-even-though-we-may-blow-it-every-day-god-s-mercy/) [Kathie Lee Gifford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kathie-lee-gifford/) > [Morning has broken Like the first morning. Blackbird has spoken Like the first bird.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eleanor-farjeon/morning-has-broken-like-the-first-morning-blackbird-has-spoken-like/) [Eleanor Farjeon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eleanor-farjeon/) > [“ The morning has broken - I had thought of the morning like an egg that had split with a crack and was spreading.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-waters/the-morning-has-broken-i-had-thought-of-the-morning-like-an-egg-that/) [Sarah Waters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-waters/) > [Fiction and non-fiction are only different techniques of story telling. For reasons I do not fully understand, fiction dances out of me. Non-fiction is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/fiction-and-non-fiction-are-only-different-techniques-of-story/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [“We’ve all been at least a little broken by the world. But the world only notices when we try to hurt it back.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-nickless/we-ve-all-been-at-least-a-little-broken-by-the-world-but-the-world/) [Barbara Nickless](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-nickless/) > [Adoption is a redemptive response to tragedy that happens in this broken world.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/adoption-is-a-redemptive-response-to-tragedy-that-happens-in-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I like living. I have sometimes been wildly, despairingly, acutely miserable, racked with sorrow, but through it all I still know quite certainly that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/agatha-christie/i-like-living-i-have-sometimes-been-wildly-despairingly-acutely/) [Agatha Christie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/agatha-christie/) > [Just because you are alive does not mean you have to give life.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sheila-heti/just-because-you-are-alive-does-not-mean-you-have-to-give-life/) [Sheila Heti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sheila-heti/) > [The truth is just so much to me/ I am still alive](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mak-786/the-truth-is-just-so-much-to-me-i-am-still-alive/) Mak\_786 > [So happy just to be alive, Underneath the sky of blue, On this new morning, new morning, On this new morning with you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-dylan/so-happy-just-to-be-alive-underneath-the-sky-of-blue-on-this-new/) [Bob Dylan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-dylan/) > [It's not like I'm such a shiny happy person either, you know? I'm a wreck too, I'm just... still alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-marion/it-s-not-like-i-m-such-a-shiny-happy-person-either-you-know-i-m-a/) [Isaac Marion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-marion/) > [Just being alive, staying human, I think that's infinitely precious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vanessa-redgrave/just-being-alive-staying-human-i-think-that-s-infinitely-precious/) [Vanessa Redgrave](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vanessa-redgrave/) > [“Because there’s a difference in living and just being alive.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/amber-l-johnson/because-there-s-a-difference-in-living-and-just-being-alive/) [Amber L. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/amber-l-johnson/) > [“Why was she dancing? No reason. Just alive, I guess.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-saunders/why-was-she-dancing-no-reason-just-alive-i-guess/) [George Saunders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-saunders/) ## 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 Alive quotes > [I understand that it's the music that keeps me alive... That's my lifeblood. And to give that up for, like, the TV, the cars,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bruce-springsteen/i-understand-that-it-s-the-music-that-keeps-me-alive-that-s-my/) [Bruce Springsteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bruce-springsteen/) > [I feel very grateful to be alive and well enough to make music.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-ant/i-feel-very-grateful-to-be-alive-and-well-enough-to-make-music/) Adam Ant > [I don't crave applause. I'm not one of those guys who comes alive on stage. I'm much more alive at home, I think.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-bowie/i-don-t-crave-applause-i-m-not-one-of-those-guys-who-comes-alive-on/) [David Bowie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-bowie/) > [We must master our egoism, and through this mastery, step outside ourselves and educate ourselves in giving. Fasting requires that we rediscover all that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tariq-ramadan/we-must-master-our-egoism-and-through-this-mastery-step-outside/) [Tariq Ramadan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tariq-ramadan/) > [I can't say that there are 'things' that make me come alive. There are thoughts that make me come alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marianne-williamson/i-can-t-say-that-there-are-things-that-make-me-come-alive-there-are/) [Marianne Williamson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marianne-williamson/) > [We're like the wicked witch. We promise gingerbread, then eat the little brats alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/orson-scott-card/we-re-like-the-wicked-witch-we-promise-gingerbread-then-eat-the/) [Orson Scott Card](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/orson-scott-card/) > [If Jovan Belcher didn't possess a gun, he and Kasandra Perkins would both be alive today.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-costas/if-jovan-belcher-didn-t-possess-a-gun-he-and-kasandra-perkins-would/) [Bob Costas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-costas/) > [Peace is an ongoing process. It begins with the first step and it does not end. We, all of us alive today, are the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-krieger/peace-is-an-ongoing-process-it-begins-with-the-first-step-and-it-does/) [David Krieger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-krieger/) > [I think adoption becomes complicated whenever the biological parents are alive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-haven/i-think-adoption-becomes-complicated-whenever-the-biological-parents/) [James Haven](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-haven/) > [The pain of love is the pain of being alive. It is a perpetual wound.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maureen-duffy/the-pain-of-love-is-the-pain-of-being-alive-it-is-a-perpetual-wound/) [Maureen Duffy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maureen-duffy/) > [I have tried to resign myself, and to console myself; and that, I hope, I may have done imperfectly; but what I cannot firmly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/i-have-tried-to-resign-myself-and-to-console-myself-and-that-i-hope-i/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [If Melanchthon were alive today, he might not weep because of controversies that surround the Lord's Supper, but he might well sorrow because of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erwin-w-lutzer/if-melanchthon-were-alive-today-he-might-not-weep-because-of/) [Erwin W. Lutzer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erwin-w-lutzer/) > [If you’re alive, don’t move, if you’re dead, don’t worry about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laurell-k-hamilton/if-you-re-alive-don-t-move-if-you-re-dead-don-t-worry-about-it/) [Laurell K. Hamilton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laurell-k-hamilton/) > [Here Greek and Roman find themselves alive along these crowded shelves; and Shakespeare treads again his stage, and Chaucer paints anew his age.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-greenleaf-whittier/here-greek-and-roman-find-themselves-alive-along-these-crowded/) [John Greenleaf Whittier](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-greenleaf-whittier/) > [You're alive!" Fezzik cried. The man in black sat immobile, like a ventriloquist's dummy, just his mouth moving. "That is perhaps the most childishly…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-goldman/you-re-alive-fezzik-cried-the-man-in-black-sat-immobile-like-a/) [William Goldman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-goldman/) [Browse all 7,282 Alive quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/alive/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "it is a serious thing // just to be alive / on this fresh morning / in this broken world.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Oliver" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/it-is-a-serious-thing-just-to-be-alive-on-this-fresh-morning-in-this/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Alive" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/it-is-a-serious-thing-just-to-be-alive-on-this-fresh-morning-in-this/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/mary-oliver-570_alive_it-is-a-serious-thing-just-to-be-alive-o_208295.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/mary-oliver-570_alive_it-is-a-serious-thing-just-to-be-alive-o_208295.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b0a/mary-oliver-570_alive_it-is-a-serious-thing-just-to-be-alive-o_208295.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“it is a serious thing // just to be alive / on this fresh morning / in this broken world.” — 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": "it is a serious thing //...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/it-is-a-serious-thing-just-to-be-alive-on-this-fresh-morning-in-this/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/it-is-a-serious-thing-just-to-be-alive-on-this-fresh-morning-in-this/#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 } } ] } ```