I try to be good but sometimes a person just has to break out and act like the wild and springy thing one used to be. It's impossible not to remember wild an want it back.
Mary OliverRead
Instead of taking the reader by the hand and running him down the hill, I want to lead him into a house of many rooms, and leave him alone in each of them.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The quote emphasizes the importance of exploration and personal experience in understanding complex ideas.
Mary Oliver's quote suggests that instead of simply guiding someone through an experience, it's more valuable to invite them to explore a variety of perspectives and insights independently. By leading them into a 'house of many rooms,' she implies that there are numerous layers and facets to explore, encouraging readers to engage deeply and meaningfully with the material on their own terms.
Themes
ExplorationUnderstandingIndependenceLearningPerspective
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about teaching methods that promote critical thinking.
More from Mary Oliver
All quotes →At the time I was growing up, literature was involved with the so-called confessional poets. And I was not interested in that. I did not think that specific and personal perspective functioned well for the reader at all.
Mary OliverRead
I know the sag of the unfinished poem. And I know the release of the poem that is finished.
Mary OliverRead
For poems are not words, after all, but fires for the cold, ropes let down to the lost, something as necessary as bread in the pockets of the hungry.
Mary OliverRead
If I have any lasting worth, it will be because I have tried to make people remember what the Earth is meant to look like.
Mary OliverRead
Every day I see or hear something that more or less kills me with delight, that leaves me like a needle in the haystack of light.
Mary OliverRead
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