--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This is the first, wildest, and wisest…" description: "\"This is the first, wildest, and wisest thing I know, that the soul exists, and that it is built entirely out of attention.\" — Mary Oliver" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb0/mary-oliver-570_attention_this-is-the-first-wildest-and-wisest-thi_569144.jpg" --- # This is the first, wildest, and wisest thing I know, that… ![“This is the first, wildest, and wisest thing I know, that the soul exists, and that it is built entirely out of attention.” quote by Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb0/mary-oliver-570_attention_this-is-the-first-wildest-and-wisest-thi_569144.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb0/mary-oliver-570_attention_this-is-the-first-wildest-and-wisest-thi_569144.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb0/mary-oliver-570_attention_this-is-the-first-wildest-and-wisest-thi_569144.jpg) > “This is the first, wildest, and wisest thing I know, that the soul exists, and that it is built entirely out of attention.” [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 soul is composed entirely of attention; by focusing, we give it existence and wisdom. **In simple terms:** Attention creates and defines the soul. Key Takeaway Practice mindful attention to nurture your soul. Themes mindfulness spirituality attention Mood contemplative hopeful Type poetic inspirational When to use this quote - meditation - creative work - relationships - learning environments Key Concepts philosophy psychology Questions to Reflect On - What do you pay attention to daily? - How does attention shape your sense of self? A Different Perspective May neglect other aspects of identity beyond attention. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Attention](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) [Soul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/soul/) [Spirituality](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirituality/) ## Related quotes > [Ten times a day something happens to me like this - some strengthening throb of amazement - some good sweet empathic ping and swell.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/ten-times-a-day-something-happens-to-me-like-this-some-strengthening/) [Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/) > [Sometimes 'Hmm' is the wisest thing to say.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alethea-kontis/sometimes-hmm-is-the-wisest-thing-to-say/) [Alethea Kontis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alethea-kontis/) > [Often silence is the wisest thing for a man to heed.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pindar/often-silence-is-the-wisest-thing-for-a-man-to-heed/) [Pindar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pindar/) > [The wisest thing you'll ever do in this life is to draw close to God and to seek Him with all your heart.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bob-sorge/the-wisest-thing-you-ll-ever-do-in-this-life-is-to-draw-close-to-god/) [Bob Sorge](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bob-sorge/) > [“Doing nothing at all is often the very wisest thing ... as the world is a ball and is turning and everything is in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niall-williams/doing-nothing-at-all-is-often-the-very-wisest-thing-as-the-world-is-a/) [Niall Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niall-williams/) > [The wisest thing to do with a fool is to encourage him to hire a hall and discourse to his fellow-citizens . Nothing chills…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/woodrow-wilson/the-wisest-thing-to-do-with-a-fool-is-to-encourage-him-to-hire-a-hall/) [Woodrow Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/woodrow-wilson/) > [I think that that's the wisest thing - to prevent illness before we try to cure something.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-think-that-that-s-the-wisest-thing-to-prevent-illness-before-we-try/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [I learned a long time ago the wisest thing I can do is be on my own side, be an advocate for myself and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maya-angelou/i-learned-a-long-time-ago-the-wisest-thing-i-can-do-is-be-on-my-own/) [Maya Angelou](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maya-angelou/) > [The wisest thing to do if you’re living in hell is to make yourself comfortable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-bukowski/the-wisest-thing-to-do-if-you-re-living-in-hell-is-to-make-yourself/) [Charles Bukowski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-bukowski/) > [“Poet Mary Oliver wrote, “This is the first, wildest, and wisest thing I know: that the soul exists, and that it is built entirely…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendy-strgar/poet-mary-oliver-wrote-this-is-the-first-wildest-and-wisest-thing-i/) Wendy Strgar > [“The wisest thing my grandpa ever said to me before he died was "Stop!" 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And to my mind that's…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ann-aguirre/science-has-proved-there-s-nothing-to-the-talk-of-ghosts-and-spirits/) [Ann Aguirre](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ann-aguirre/) > ['By convention there is color, by convention sweetness, by convention bitterness, but in reality there are atoms and the void,' announced Democritus. The universe…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-robert-harrison/by-convention-there-is-color-by-convention-sweetness-by-convention/) [Edward Robert Harrison](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-robert-harrison/) ## 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? 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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 Attention quotes > [It appears to me that one great cause of our difference in opinion on subjects which we often discuss is that you have always…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-ricardo/it-appears-to-me-that-one-great-cause-of-our-difference-in-opinion-on/) [David Ricardo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-ricardo/) > [People pay far too much attention to the television and they're quite literal in some ways. At the beginning, when I was playing very…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ardal-o-hanlon/people-pay-far-too-much-attention-to-the-television-and-they-re-quite/) [Ardal O'Hanlon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ardal-o-hanlon/) > [Television, radio, social media. The 24/7 news cycle plows forward mercilessly on our desks, in our cars and in our pockets. Thousands and thousands…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joseph-prince/television-radio-social-media-the-24-7-news-cycle-plows-forward/) [Joseph Prince](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joseph-prince/) > [By making conscious choices in our behavior and where we focus our attention, we can transform our experience of our body, decrease our biological…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/deepak-chopra/by-making-conscious-choices-in-our-behavior-and-where-we-focus-our/) [Deepak Chopra](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/deepak-chopra/) > [Our inventions are wont to be pretty toys, which distract our attention from serious things. They are but improved means to an unimproved end.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-david-thoreau/our-inventions-are-wont-to-be-pretty-toys-which-distract-our/) [Henry David Thoreau](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-david-thoreau/) > [What people don't normally know about us is the hustle is very real, and it's sorely driven a lot by how we consider ourselves.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lzzy-hale/what-people-don-t-normally-know-about-us-is-the-hustle-is-very-real/) [Lzzy Hale](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lzzy-hale/) > [For me, the term "psychotherapy" is limiting. It implies that we work with mind and emotions, but excludes the body and pays scant attention…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jed-diamond/for-me-the-term-psychotherapy-is-limiting-it-implies-that-we-work/) [Jed Diamond](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jed-diamond/) > [When you approach something to photograph it, first be still with yourself until the object of your attention affirms your presence. Then don't leave…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/minor-white/when-you-approach-something-to-photograph-it-first-be-still-with/) [Minor White](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/minor-white/) > [I'm writing about real things. Real people. Real characters. You have to believe what I write about is true or you wouldn't pay any…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lou-reed/i-m-writing-about-real-things-real-people-real-characters-you-have-to/) [Lou Reed](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lou-reed/) > [ I went to a mosque in Philadelphia with \[my wife\] in December 24, 1999. And we we went to this mosque in Philly, and… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mahershala-ali/i-went-to-a-mosque-in-philadelphia-with-my-wife-in-december-24-1999/) [Mahershala Ali](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mahershala-ali/) > [The Harvard Business Review recently had an article called 'The Human Moment,' about how to make real contact with a person at work: ...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/daniel-goleman/the-harvard-business-review-recently-had-an-article-called-the-human/) [Daniel Goleman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/daniel-goleman/) > [Let us thank God heartily as often as we pray that we have His Spirit in us to teach us to pray. Thanksgiving will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andy-murray/let-us-thank-god-heartily-as-often-as-we-pray-that-we-have-his-spirit/) [Andy Murray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andy-murray/) > [Enlightened people live in very charged states of attention, with a tremendous power circuiting through them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frederick-lenz/enlightened-people-live-in-very-charged-states-of-attention-with-a/) [Frederick Lenz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frederick-lenz/) > [We must have a welfare system that we can afford, which will mean giving greater attention to directing the welfare program toward its primary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michael-portillo/we-must-have-a-welfare-system-that-we-can-afford-which-will-mean/) [Michael Portillo](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michael-portillo/) > [The director's job should give you a sense of music without drawing attention to itself.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/taylor-hackford/the-director-s-job-should-give-you-a-sense-of-music-without-drawing/) [Taylor Hackford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/taylor-hackford/) [Browse all 10,153 Attention quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/attention/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "This is the first, wildest, and wisest thing I know, that the soul exists, and that it is built entirely out of attention.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Oliver" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/this-is-the-first-wildest-and-wisest-thing-i-know-that-the-soul/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Attention" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/this-is-the-first-wildest-and-wisest-thing-i-know-that-the-soul/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb0/mary-oliver-570_attention_this-is-the-first-wildest-and-wisest-thi_569144.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb0/mary-oliver-570_attention_this-is-the-first-wildest-and-wisest-thi_569144.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fb0/mary-oliver-570_attention_this-is-the-first-wildest-and-wisest-thi_569144.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“This is the first, wildest, and wisest thing I know, that the soul exists, and that it is built entirely out…” — 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": "This is the first, wildest, and...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/this-is-the-first-wildest-and-wisest-thing-i-know-that-the-soul/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/this-is-the-first-wildest-and-wisest-thing-i-know-that-the-soul/#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 } } ] } ```