“Of this there can be no question — creative work requires a loyalty as complete as the loyalty of water to the force of gravity. A person trudging through the wilderness of creation who does not know this — who does not swallow this — is lost. He who does not crave that roofless place eternity should stay at home. Such a person is perfectly worthy, and useful, and even beautiful, but is not an artist. Such a person had better live with timely ambitions and finished work formed for the sparkle of the moment only. Such a person had better go off and fly an airplane.”
More from Mary Oliver
“Let me keep my distance, always, from those who think they have the answers.”
“Maybe the desire to make something beautiful is the piece of God that is inside each of…”
“Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls…”
“You do not have to be good. You do not have to walk on your knees for a hundred miles…”