--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Listen, are you breathing just a little…" description: "\"“Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life? While the soul, after all, is only a window, and the opening of the window no more dif..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2de/mary-oliver-570_growth_listen-are-you-breathing-just-a-little-a_1166556.jpg" --- # Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a… ![“Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life? While the soul, after all, is only a window, and the opening of the window no more difficult than the wakening from a little sleep.” quote by Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2de/mary-oliver-570_growth_listen-are-you-breathing-just-a-little-a_1166556.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2de/mary-oliver-570_growth_listen-are-you-breathing-just-a-little-a_1166556.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/2de/mary-oliver-570_growth_listen-are-you-breathing-just-a-little-a_1166556.jpg) > ““Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life? While the soul, after all, is only a window, and the opening of the window no more difficult than the wakening from a little sleep.”” [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 poem questions superficial existence, urging deeper awareness of life beyond mere breathing, likening the soul to a window that awakens slowly. **In simple terms:** Don’t settle for shallow living; seek deeper awareness. Key Takeaway Awaken to a fuller, more conscious life. Themes existence mindfulness spirituality Mood contemplative poetic Type literary inspirational When to use this quote - daily meditation - creative work - nature immersion - personal reflection Key Concepts consciousness self‑realization Questions to Reflect On - What does “breathing” mean to you? - How can you open your inner “window”? A Different Perspective Awakening can be unsettling and requires effort. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Breathing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/breathing/) [Growth](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/growth/) [Journey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/journey/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Sleep](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/sleep/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Spiritual](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spiritual/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) ## Related quotes > [Listen--are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/listen-are-you-breathing-just-a-little-and-calling-it-a-life/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [I see the guilt through your shame, I see your soul through your window pain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lil-wayne/i-see-the-guilt-through-your-shame-i-see-your-soul-through-your/) [Lil Wayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lil-wayne/) > [Keep breathing. Just keep doing it. It's easy. In and out.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jenny-downham/keep-breathing-just-keep-doing-it-it-s-easy-in-and-out/) [Jenny Downham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jenny-downham/) > [Just because you cant see the air doesn't mean you stop breathing. And just because you cant see God doesn't mean you stop believing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alone-boy/just-because-you-cant-see-the-air-doesn-t-mean-you-stop-breathing-and/) Alone Boy > [I cry when I listen to you breathing Because I know there's nothing else I'm conscious of that crushing feeling](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/placebo/i-cry-when-i-listen-to-you-breathing-because-i-know-there-s-nothing/) Placebo > [When I listen to my scene partners and listen to their breathing allows me to be connected to them in scenes. I am not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giancarlo-esposito/when-i-listen-to-my-scene-partners-and-listen-to-their-breathing/) [Giancarlo Esposito](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giancarlo-esposito/) > [“One does not hold their breath and say that they are breathing; Just the same, One cannot advance in life and remain the same.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gillian-duce/one-does-not-hold-their-breath-and-say-that-they-are-breathing-just/) [Gillian Duce](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gillian-duce/) > [Perhaps he was afraid as I was that we'd be caught. Or perhaps he was breathing me in just as I was letting him…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-see/perhaps-he-was-afraid-as-i-was-that-we-d-be-caught-or-perhaps-he-was/) [Lisa See](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-see/) > [“It's ironic, isn't it? 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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 Breathe quotes > [“Well come and stand a little bit closer, breathe in and get a bit higher. You'll ever know what hit you when I get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/savage-garden/well-come-and-stand-a-little-bit-closer-breathe-in-and-get-a-bit/) [Savage Garden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/savage-garden/) > [I like fantasy, but I don't live and breathe fantasy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/i-like-fantasy-but-i-don-t-live-and-breathe-fantasy/) [Lauren Schmidt Hissrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lauren-schmidt-hissrich/) > [“Live your dreams. Breathe your dreams. Never give up on your dreams.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/avijeet-das/live-your-dreams-breathe-your-dreams-never-give-up-on-your-dreams/) [Avijeet Das](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/avijeet-das/) > [And wheresoever, in his rich creation, Sweet music breathes--in wave, or bird, or soul-- 'Tis but the faint and far reverberation Of that great…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frances-sargent-osgood/and-wheresoever-in-his-rich-creation-sweet-music-breathes-in-wave-or/) [Frances Sargent Osgood](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frances-sargent-osgood/) > [Dawn's faint breath breathes with your mouth at the ends of empty streets. Gray light your eyes, sweet drops of dawn on dark hills.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cesare-pavese/dawn-s-faint-breath-breathes-with-your-mouth-at-the-ends-of-empty/) [Cesare Pavese](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cesare-pavese/) > [Why couldn't Jesus command us to obsess over everything, to try to control and manipulate people, to try not to breathe at all, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-lamott/why-couldn-t-jesus-command-us-to-obsess-over-everything-to-try-to/) [Anne Lamott](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-lamott/) > [...As the disparity between the rich and the poor grows, the fight to corner resources is intensifying. To push through their "sweetheart deals," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/as-the-disparity-between-the-rich-and-the-poor-grows-the-fight-to/) [Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/) > [There were people asking 'Can women be funny?' People still ask that. It's like asking: 'Can women breathe in and out?'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julie-walters/there-were-people-asking-can-women-be-funny-people-still-ask-that-it/) [Julie Walters](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julie-walters/) > [We need to be more conversant with it because science is in our lives. It's in everything. It's in the food we eat. It's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-alda/we-need-to-be-more-conversant-with-it-because-science-is-in-our-lives/) [Alan Alda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-alda/) > [“Before we can make seismic professional, economic, and sociological changes, we have to squeeze out of our Spanx and remember how it feels to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-hays-coomer/before-we-can-make-seismic-professional-economic-and-sociological/) [Sarah Hays Coomer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-hays-coomer/) > [Manchester United breathe football. When I have to make hard decisions, I always listen to little boy inside me and what he wants. That…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robin-van-persie/manchester-united-breathe-football-when-i-have-to-make-hard-decisions/) [Robin van Persie](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robin-van-persie/) > [I drink to feel / I smoke to breathe / Just look what love / Has done to me](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kacey-musgraves/i-drink-to-feel-i-smoke-to-breathe-just-look-what-love-has-done-to-me/) [Kacey Musgraves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kacey-musgraves/) > [Wherever you are is the perfect place to awaken. This moment is the exact place to practice compassion and loving awareness. You have all…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-kornfield/wherever-you-are-is-the-perfect-place-to-awaken-this-moment-is-the/) [Jack Kornfield](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-kornfield/) > [If I had lost a leg, I would tell them, instead of a boy, no one would ever ask me if I was 'over…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/elizabeth-edwards/if-i-had-lost-a-leg-i-would-tell-them-instead-of-a-boy-no-one-would/) [Elizabeth Edwards](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/elizabeth-edwards/) > [In some ways, what I learned is that you can take a character and breathe with them, and its up to the audience to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aden-young/in-some-ways-what-i-learned-is-that-you-can-take-a-character-and/) [Aden Young](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aden-young/) Browse all 2,793 Breathe quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Listen, are you breathing just a little, and calling it a life? 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