--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Let me keep my distance, always, from…" description: "\"Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company always with those who say “Look!” and laugh in astonis..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/mary-oliver-570_answers_let-me-keep-my-distance-always-from-thos_1262039.jpg" --- # Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they… ![“Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company always with those who say “Look!” and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads. (from “Mysteries, Yes”)” quote by Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/mary-oliver-570_answers_let-me-keep-my-distance-always-from-thos_1262039.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/mary-oliver-570_answers_let-me-keep-my-distance-always-from-thos_1262039.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/mary-oliver-570_answers_let-me-keep-my-distance-always-from-thos_1262039.jpg) > “Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company always with those who say “Look!” and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads. (from “Mysteries, Yes”)” [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 prefers to stay away from self‑assured people and instead keep company with those who are amazed and humble. **In simple terms:** Avoid certainty, seek wonder and humility. Key Takeaway Choose curiosity over certainty. Themes humility wonder skepticism Mood thoughtful reflective Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - personal growth - creative work - spiritual practice - dialogue - learning Key Concepts philosophy existential reflection Questions to Reflect On - How do you balance humility with confidence? - What does “Look!” mean to you? A Different Perspective Over‑reliance on awe can lead to indecision. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Astonishment](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/astonishment/) [Business](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/business/) [Company](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/company/) [Inspirational](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/inspirational/) [Laugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/laugh/) [Mystery](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mystery/) [Thinking](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thinking/) ## Related quotes > [“Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company always with those who say "Look!"…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/let-me-keep-my-distance-always-from-those-who-think-they-have-the-2/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“MYSTERIES, YES Truly, we live with mysteries too marvelous to be understood. How grass can be nourishing in the mouths of the lambs. How…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/mysteries-yes-truly-we-live-with-mysteries-too-marvelous-to-be/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“It was as if suddenly, looking into the revealed distance, we could think.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-mcelroy/it-was-as-if-suddenly-looking-into-the-revealed-distance-we-could/) [Joseph McElroy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-mcelroy/) > [Anybody can play decent golf like me, but people trip on their own minds. They need to create a little distance between what they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jaggi-vasudev/anybody-can-play-decent-golf-like-me-but-people-trip-on-their-own/) [Jaggi Vasudev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jaggi-vasudev/) > [If you're going to be able to look back on something and laugh about it, you might as well laugh about it now.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marie-osmond/if-you-re-going-to-be-able-to-look-back-on-something-and-laugh-about/) [Marie Osmond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marie-osmond/) > [Dont look at me laugh:)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/dont-look-at-me-laugh/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [One day you will see that it all has finally come together. You will look back and laugh at what has passed and ask…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/one-day-you-will-see-that-it-all-has-finally-come-together-you-will/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [If ever I want to amuse myself with an idiot, I have not far to look for one. I laugh at myself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/if-ever-i-want-to-amuse-myself-with-an-idiot-i-have-not-far-to-look/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [If I look at it, I would laugh. I don't know how I became successful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ai-weiwei/if-i-look-at-it-i-would-laugh-i-don-t-know-how-i-became-successful/) [Ai Weiwei](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ai-weiwei/) > [One day we'll all look back on this, laugh nervously, and change the subject.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ash-sweeney/one-day-we-ll-all-look-back-on-this-laugh-nervously-and-change-the/) [Ash Sweeney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ash-sweeney/) > [“All I know is that I can never see him enough. I can never kiss him enough. There isn't enough of him in the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-dayton/all-i-know-is-that-i-can-never-see-him-enough-i-can-never-kiss-him/) Anne Dayton > [I’m really not interested in women as victims. Look at me, I get the last laugh ‘cause I get to be funny about it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nora-ephron/i-m-really-not-interested-in-women-as-victims-look-at-me-i-get-the/) [Nora Ephron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nora-ephron/) > [It is completely usual for me to get up in the morning, take a look around, and laugh out loud.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barbara-kingsolver/it-is-completely-usual-for-me-to-get-up-in-the-morning-take-a-look/) [Barbara Kingsolver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barbara-kingsolver/) > [When your judging me I look at you and laugh because you dont even know my story, my struggle I think of you as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-oden/when-your-judging-me-i-look-at-you-and-laugh-because-you-dont-even/) [Alexis Oden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-oden/) > [Sometimes people say,' One day you are going to look back at this and laugh.' My question is:' Why wait?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-bandler/sometimes-people-say-one-day-you-are-going-to-look-back-at-this-and/) [Richard Bandler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/richard-bandler/) ## 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 Answers quotes > [The one thing that I keep learning over and over again is that I don't know nothing. I mean, that's my life lesson.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dwayne-johnson/the-one-thing-that-i-keep-learning-over-and-over-again-is-that-i-don/) [Dwayne Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dwayne-johnson/) > [Sometimes a question can hurt more than an answer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-dessen/sometimes-a-question-can-hurt-more-than-an-answer/) [Sarah Dessen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-dessen/) > [You feed yourself. Make sure you have all the information, whether it's aesthetic, scientific, mathematical, I don't care what it is. Then you walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ray-bradbury/you-feed-yourself-make-sure-you-have-all-the-information-whether-it-s/) [Ray Bradbury](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ray-bradbury/) > [I have long felt that the way to keep children out of trouble is to keep them interested in things. Lecturing to children is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-disney/i-have-long-felt-that-the-way-to-keep-children-out-of-trouble-is-to/) [Walt Disney](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-disney/) > [Let me tell you that atheism has never painted a masterpiece. Atheism has never dispelled fear. Atheism has never healed a disease; faith in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-hagee/let-me-tell-you-that-atheism-has-never-painted-a-masterpiece-atheism/) [John Hagee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-hagee/) > [“As long as you keep searching,the answers will come.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mitch-kynock/as-long-as-you-keep-searching-the-answers-will-come/) [Mitch Kynock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mitch-kynock/) > [The answer to deep anxiety is the deep adoration of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-voskamp/the-answer-to-deep-anxiety-is-the-deep-adoration-of-god/) [Ann Voskamp](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-voskamp/) > [A dialogue is very important. It is a form of communication in which question and answer continue till a question is left without an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jiddu-krishnamurti/a-dialogue-is-very-important-it-is-a-form-of-communication-in-which/) [Jiddu Krishnamurti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jiddu-krishnamurti/) > [There is a comfort in rituals, and rituals provide a framework for stability when you are trying to find answers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deborah-norville/there-is-a-comfort-in-rituals-and-rituals-provide-a-framework-for/) [Deborah Norville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deborah-norville/) > [A religious person answers to God, not to the elected or non-elected official.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elie-wiesel/a-religious-person-answers-to-god-not-to-the-elected-or-non-elected/) [Elie Wiesel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elie-wiesel/) > [Let us remember that every worldview-not just Christianity's-must give an explanation or an answer for evil and suffering...this is not just a problem distinctive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ravi-zacharias/let-us-remember-that-every-worldview-not-just-christianity-s-must/) [Ravi Zacharias](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ravi-zacharias/) > [Instead of asking a girl how she feels, try looking through her recently listened to songs. The lyrics are the answer to all your…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/instead-of-asking-a-girl-how-she-feels-try-looking-through-her/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [For someone to ask 'Who did you play for' and to be able to answer a single name 'Liverpool' that would be brilliant...I don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jamie-carragher/for-someone-to-ask-who-did-you-play-for-and-to-be-able-to-answer-a/) [Jamie Carragher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jamie-carragher/) > [When the first Superman movie came out I was frequently asked "What is a hero?" ...My answer was that a hero is someone who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-reeve/when-the-first-superman-movie-came-out-i-was-frequently-asked-what-is/) [Christopher Reeve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-reeve/) > [Enjoying life isn't about finding the answers, but living the questions.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-margolis/enjoying-life-isn-t-about-finding-the-answers-but-living-the-questions/) [Sue Margolis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-margolis/) Browse all 7,843 Answers quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company always with those who say “Look!” and laugh in astonishment, and bow their heads. (from “Mysteries, Yes”)", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Oliver" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/let-me-keep-my-distance-always-from-those-who-think-they-have-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Answers" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/let-me-keep-my-distance-always-from-those-who-think-they-have-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/mary-oliver-570_answers_let-me-keep-my-distance-always-from-thos_1262039.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/mary-oliver-570_answers_let-me-keep-my-distance-always-from-thos_1262039.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/5b2/mary-oliver-570_answers_let-me-keep-my-distance-always-from-thos_1262039.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers. Let me keep company always with…” — 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": "Let me keep my distance, always,...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/let-me-keep-my-distance-always-from-those-who-think-they-have-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/let-me-keep-my-distance-always-from-those-who-think-they-have-the/#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 } } ] } ```