--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Poetry is a life-cherishing force." description: "\"Poetry is a life-cherishing force.\" — Mary Oliver" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/mary-oliver-570_cherish_poetry-is-a-life-cherishing-force-178867_1788677.jpg" --- # Poetry is a life-cherishing force. ![“Poetry is a life-cherishing force.” quote by Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/mary-oliver-570_cherish_poetry-is-a-life-cherishing-force-178867_1788677.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/mary-oliver-570_cherish_poetry-is-a-life-cherishing-force-178867_1788677.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/mary-oliver-570_cherish_poetry-is-a-life-cherishing-force-178867_1788677.jpg) > “Poetry is a life-cherishing force.” [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. Poetry sustains life, offering nourishment and purpose beyond the mundane. **In simple terms:** Poetry gives life meaning. Key Takeaway Read poetry daily for inspiration. Themes creativity mindfulness purpose Mood reflective inspirational Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - daily routine - creative writing - mindful reflection Key Concepts aesthetic appreciation emotional resonance Questions to Reflect On - What poem has changed your outlook? - How can poetry be integrated into work life? A Different Perspective Poetry may not resonate with everyone. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Cherish](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cherish/) [Cherishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cherishing/) [Cherishing Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cherishing-force-1925618/) [Force](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/force/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [Life Cherishing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life-cherishing-1748626/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Poetry is](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry-is/) [Poetry Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry-life/) ## Related quotes > [“It wasn't that he had forgotten the lesson Takuan had taught him: the truly brave man is one who loves life, cherishing it as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eiji-yoshikawa/it-wasn-t-that-he-had-forgotten-the-lesson-takuan-had-taught-him-the/) [Eiji Yoshikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eiji-yoshikawa/) > [“Takuan had taught him: the truly brave man is one who loves life, cherishing it as a treasure that once forfeited can never be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eiji-yoshikawa/takuan-had-taught-him-the-truly-brave-man-is-one-who-loves-life/) [Eiji Yoshikawa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eiji-yoshikawa/) > [We tend to think being hard on ourselves will make us strong. But it is cherishing ourselves that gives us strength](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/julia-cameron/we-tend-to-think-being-hard-on-ourselves-will-make-us-strong-but-it/) [Julia Cameron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/julia-cameron/) > [Cherishing children is the mark of a civilized society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/cherishing-children-is-the-mark-of-a-civilized-society/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I have always made my own rules, in poetry as in life - though I have tried of late to cooperate more with my…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-stevenson/i-have-always-made-my-own-rules-in-poetry-as-in-life-though-i-have/) [Anne Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-stevenson/) > [I'm not really quiet or shy. Ask any of my friends! But I always ground my poetry in life itself. Poetry is an art…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-stevenson/i-m-not-really-quiet-or-shy-ask-any-of-my-friends-but-i-always-ground/) [Anne Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-stevenson/) > [Sculpture and painting are moments of life; poetry is life itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walter-savage-landor/sculpture-and-painting-are-moments-of-life-poetry-is-life-itself/) [Walter Savage Landor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walter-savage-landor/) > [“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-2/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [“Poetry is a life-cherishing force. 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I knew how to make someone feel cherished and seen and listened to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-hall/i-knew-how-to-be-a-friend-a-lover-a-partner-i-knew-how-to-make/) [Alexis Hall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-hall/) > [“Books are the immortality of the race, the father and mother of most that is worth while cherishing in our hearts. To spread good…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-morley/books-are-the-immortality-of-the-race-the-father-and-mother-of-most/) [Christopher Morley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-morley/) ## 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 Cherish quotes > [In this choice of inheritance we have given to our frame of polity the image of a relation in blood; binding up the constitution…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edmund-burke/in-this-choice-of-inheritance-we-have-given-to-our-frame-of-polity/) [Edmund Burke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edmund-burke/) > [They say that the commons of England would first destroy the king's friends and afterward himself, and then bring the Duke of York to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-cade/they-say-that-the-commons-of-england-would-first-destroy-the-king-s/) [Jack Cade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-cade/) > [I am simply looking for a companion with whom to spend my days, a companion who will cherish as much as I the stupidity…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/heidi-julavits/i-am-simply-looking-for-a-companion-with-whom-to-spend-my-days-a/) [Heidi Julavits](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/heidi-julavits/) > [The longer you are in acting business, the more you cherish the times when you're working with people that do great work, and can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/scott-bakula/the-longer-you-are-in-acting-business-the-more-you-cherish-the-times/) [Scott Bakula](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/scott-bakula/) > [Being in a Woody Allen film. I cherish it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/parker-posey/being-in-a-woody-allen-film-i-cherish-it/) [Parker Posey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/parker-posey/) > [Hold tenderly that which you cherish, for it is precious and a tight grip may crush it. Do not let the fear of dropping…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-alberti/hold-tenderly-that-which-you-cherish-for-it-is-precious-and-a-tight/) [Bob Alberti](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-alberti/) > [I cherish my clothes and I remember what seasons they're from. But someone said to me as I was having trouble with styling a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kate-hudson/i-cherish-my-clothes-and-i-remember-what-seasons-they-re-from-but/) [Kate Hudson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kate-hudson/) > [You never know what's going to happen so just enjoy the moments that you have with the people you love and cherish them. Let…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/camille-grammer/you-never-know-what-s-going-to-happen-so-just-enjoy-the-moments-that/) [Camille Grammer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/camille-grammer/) > [Cherish your solitude. Take trains by yourself to places you have never been. Sleep out alone under the stars.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/cherish-your-solitude-take-trains-by-yourself-to-places-you-have/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [I keep a lot to myself, and I cherish the things that are for me and the people closest to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tyler-oakley/i-keep-a-lot-to-myself-and-i-cherish-the-things-that-are-for-me-and/) [Tyler Oakley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tyler-oakley/) > [We must understand that God does not "love" us without liking us - through gritted teeth - as "Christian" love is sometimes thought to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dallas-willard/we-must-understand-that-god-does-not-love-us-without-liking-us/) [Dallas Willard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dallas-willard/) > [ For some unknown reason, this \[antiabortion\] branch of Christianity cherishes the unborn and hates the living person. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/vine-deloria-jr/for-some-unknown-reason-this-antiabortion-branch-of-christianity/) [Vine Deloria Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/vine-deloria-jr/) > [I want to say unequivocally that while I cherish every person who comes from anywhere, who comes here legally and seeks to pursue happiness,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/newt-gingrich/i-want-to-say-unequivocally-that-while-i-cherish-every-person-who/) [Newt Gingrich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/newt-gingrich/) > [“What makes you cherish is what often makes others perish”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/p-s-jagadeesh-kumar/what-makes-you-cherish-is-what-often-makes-others-perish/) [P.S. Jagadeesh Kumar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/p-s-jagadeesh-kumar/) > [The lesson learned: Never take your loved ones for granted. And if you’re ever lucky enough to find that one person in life who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-lesson-learned-never-take-your-loved-ones-for-granted-and-if-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Browse all 1,279 Cherish quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/cherish/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Poetry is a life-cherishing force.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Oliver" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/poetry-is-a-life-cherishing-force/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Cherish" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/poetry-is-a-life-cherishing-force/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/mary-oliver-570_cherish_poetry-is-a-life-cherishing-force-178867_1788677.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/mary-oliver-570_cherish_poetry-is-a-life-cherishing-force-178867_1788677.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b9b/mary-oliver-570_cherish_poetry-is-a-life-cherishing-force-178867_1788677.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Poetry is a life-cherishing force.” — 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": "Poetry is a life-cherishing force.", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/poetry-is-a-life-cherishing-force/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/poetry-is-a-life-cherishing-force/#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 } } ] } ```