--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Who knows what will happen or where I…" description: "\"Who knows what will happen or where I will be sent, yet already I have given a great many things away, expecting to be told to pack nothing, except the..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/mary-oliver-570_expecting_who-knows-what-will-happen-or-where-i-wi_1711281.jpg" --- # Who knows what will happen or where I will be sent, yet… ![“Who knows what will happen or where I will be sent, yet already I have given a great many things away, expecting to be told to pack nothing, except the prayers which, with this thirst, I am slowly learning.” quote by Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/mary-oliver-570_expecting_who-knows-what-will-happen-or-where-i-wi_1711281.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/mary-oliver-570_expecting_who-knows-what-will-happen-or-where-i-wi_1711281.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/mary-oliver-570_expecting_who-knows-what-will-happen-or-where-i-wi_1711281.jpg) > “Who knows what will happen or where I will be sent, yet already I have given a great many things away, expecting to be told to pack nothing, except the prayers which, with this thirst, I am slowly learning.” [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. Even while uncertain of the future, we can give generously, trusting that spiritual nourishment sustains us through longing and learning. **In simple terms:** Give despite uncertainty. Key Takeaway Offer generosity and trust in spiritual sustenance. Themes generosity faith uncertainty spirituality Mood reflective hopeful Type poetic philosophical When to use this quote - volunteering - family support - creative expression - mindful practice Key Concepts trust sacrifice inner growth Questions to Reflect On - What does giving mean to you now? - How does faith guide your actions in uncertainty? A Different Perspective Giving may not guarantee reciprocation or immediate relief. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Great man](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-man/) [Great men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/great-men/) [Lord](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lord/) [Prayer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prayer/) [Prayers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prayers/) ## Related quotes > [“In India I've slowly been learning that I'm not in complete control of my life...”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sarah-macdonald/in-india-i-ve-slowly-been-learning-that-i-m-not-in-complete-control/) [Sarah Macdonald](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sarah-macdonald/) > [Slowly learning to stop putting walls up, and pushing away everyone that tries to get close to me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/slowly-learning-to-stop-putting-walls-up-and-pushing-away-everyone/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I'm just getting used to all the interviews and promo things, I'm slowly learning. It's very strange.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alex-parks/i-m-just-getting-used-to-all-the-interviews-and-promo-things-i-m/) [Alex Parks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alex-parks/) > [“Slowly we are learning, We at least know this much, That we have to unlearn Much that we were taught, And are growing chary…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/w-h-auden/slowly-we-are-learning-we-at-least-know-this-much-that-we-have-to/) [W. H. Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [“Without monstrous distortions, I was slowly learning, without lies and hypocrisy, one cannot have the idealized American life I so longed for.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joshua-ferris/without-monstrous-distortions-i-was-slowly-learning-without-lies-and/) [Joshua Ferris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joshua-ferris/) > [I'm slowly learning to not care what others opinions are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/i-m-slowly-learning-to-not-care-what-others-opinions-are/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [She was tired of being told how it was by this generation, who’d botched things so badly. They’d sold their children a pack of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/libba-bray/she-was-tired-of-being-told-how-it-was-by-this-generation-who-d/) [Libba Bray](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/libba-bray/) > [He cast off his friends as a huntsman his pack, For he knew when he pleas'd he could whistle them back.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/oliver-goldsmith/he-cast-off-his-friends-as-a-huntsman-his-pack-for-he-knew-when-he/) [Oliver Goldsmith](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/oliver-goldsmith/) > [In other countries, it's a common thing to have outcast children running around the streets in packs, and I don't think we're so far…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/penelope-spheeris/in-other-countries-it-s-a-common-thing-to-have-outcast-children/) [Penelope Spheeris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/penelope-spheeris/) > [Dogs seek attention from you. 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Long lines of beautiful people lining up to be incredible…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tom-hardy/if-you-look-round-hollywood-there-s-no-end-of-white-smiles-and-six/) [Tom Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tom-hardy/) > [The stars are not wanted now, put out every one Pack up the moon & dismantle the sun.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-stars-are-not-wanted-now-put-out-every-one-pack-up-the-moon/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Tell the truth about your wound, and then you will get a truthful picture of the remedy to apply to it. Don't pack whatever…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/clarissa-pinkola-estes/tell-the-truth-about-your-wound-and-then-you-will-get-a-truthful/) [Clarissa Pinkola Estes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/clarissa-pinkola-estes/) > [If only you could pack up everything you love, and everyone who'd ever been your friend.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-jeff-walker/if-only-you-could-pack-up-everything-you-love-and-everyone-who-d-ever/) [Jerry Jeff Walker](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-jeff-walker/) ## 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 Expecting quotes > [I've always made sure that I tour with bands that people aren't expecting me to tour with.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mayer-hawthorne/i-ve-always-made-sure-that-i-tour-with-bands-that-people-aren-t/) [Mayer Hawthorne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mayer-hawthorne/) > [Ranger fans, they're expecting you to win, so you really want to show up every day.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-hagelin/ranger-fans-they-re-expecting-you-to-win-so-you-really-want-to-show/) [Carl Hagelin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-hagelin/) > [I don't concern myself with thinking ahead to the finished product. I focus more specifically on what the character is experiencing. Once you relieve…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jesse-eisenberg/i-don-t-concern-myself-with-thinking-ahead-to-the-finished-product-i/) [Jesse Eisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jesse-eisenberg/) > [Those of us of a certain age grew up expecting that by now we would have Rosie the Robot from 'The Jetsons' in our…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/juan-enriquez/those-of-us-of-a-certain-age-grew-up-expecting-that-by-now-we-would/) [Juan Enriquez](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/juan-enriquez/) > [You cannot keep doing the same thing, the same way, and keep expecting something different to happen.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beth-moore/you-cannot-keep-doing-the-same-thing-the-same-way-and-keep-expecting/) [Beth Moore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beth-moore/) > [At the time when this famous historical battle was fought in Kosovo, the people were looking at the stars, expecting aid from them. Now,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/slobodan-milosevi/at-the-time-when-this-famous-historical-battle-was-fought-in-kosovo/) [Slobodan Milosević](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/slobodan-milosevi/) > [“Am I … not what you were expecting?” Of course, my immediate instinct is to say no. No, you’re not what I was expecting.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-stein/am-i-not-what-you-were-expecting-of-course-my-immediate-instinct-is/) [Charlotte Stein](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-stein/) > [The reward is in doing, but doing without expecting anything...doing unselfishly.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-reward-is-in-doing-but-doing-without-expecting-anything-doing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Some of the best ideas come sort of out of nowhere and when you're not expecting it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/seth-gordon/some-of-the-best-ideas-come-sort-of-out-of-nowhere-and-when-you-re/) [Seth Gordon](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/seth-gordon/) > [So for a period of time each day, try to sit, without moving, without expecting anything, as if you were in your last moment.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/so-for-a-period-of-time-each-day-try-to-sit-without-moving-without/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“That's the key to having it all: stop expecting it to look like what you thought it was going to look like.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cindy-chupack/that-s-the-key-to-having-it-all-stop-expecting-it-to-look-like-what/) [Cindy Chupack](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cindy-chupack/) > [The definition of insanity is doing the same thing with the same result over and over again, expecting something different. The left just spent…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/the-definition-of-insanity-is-doing-the-same-thing-with-the-same/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [If my happiness at this moment consists largely in reviewing happy memories and expectations, I am but dimly aware of this present. I shall…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-watts/if-my-happiness-at-this-moment-consists-largely-in-reviewing-happy/) [Alan Watts](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-watts/) > [I'm a dreamer and continue to dream of what can and will be, "Expecting great things from God, Attempting great things for God](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carey/i-m-a-dreamer-and-continue-to-dream-of-what-can-and-will-be-expecting/) [William Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carey/) > [ It was at Harvard not quite forty years ago that I went into an anechoic \[totally silent\] chamber not expecting in that silent room… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-cage/it-was-at-harvard-not-quite-forty-years-ago-that-i-went-into-an/) [John Cage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-cage/) Browse all 899 Expecting quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "Who knows what will happen or where I will be sent, yet already I have given a great many things away, expecting to be told to pack nothing, except the prayers which, with this thirst, I am slowly learning.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Mary Oliver" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/who-knows-what-will-happen-or-where-i-will-be-sent-yet-already-i-have/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Expecting" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/who-knows-what-will-happen-or-where-i-will-be-sent-yet-already-i-have/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/mary-oliver-570_expecting_who-knows-what-will-happen-or-where-i-wi_1711281.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/mary-oliver-570_expecting_who-knows-what-will-happen-or-where-i-wi_1711281.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ad6/mary-oliver-570_expecting_who-knows-what-will-happen-or-where-i-wi_1711281.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Who knows what will happen or where I will be sent, yet already I have given a great many things away…” — 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": "Who knows what will happen or...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/who-knows-what-will-happen-or-where-i-will-be-sent-yet-already-i-have/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/who-knows-what-will-happen-or-where-i-will-be-sent-yet-already-i-have/#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 } } ] } ```