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Quote by Gary Snyder

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Back on the Fire: Essays

This book is a compilation of thoughtful and reflective essays that delve into a range of topics, offering readers a diverse array of perspectives and insights. more

Author

Gary Snyder
Gary Snyder

Gary Snyder is an influential American poet born on May 8, 1930. His poetry, deeply influenced by nature and Zen Buddhism, is considered one of the leading figures in American environmental poetry. more

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“We usually recognize a beginning. Endings are more difficult to detect. Most often, they are realized only after reflection. Silence. We are seldom conscious when silence begins—it is only afterward that we realize what we have been a part of. In the night journeys of Canada geese, it is the silence that propels them. Thomas Merton writes, “Silence is the strength of our interior life.… If we fill our lives with silence, then we will live in hope.”

“I pray to the birds. I pray to the birds because I believe they will carry the messages of my heart upward. I pray to them because I believe in their existence, the way their songs begin and end each day—the invocations and benedictions of Earth. I pray to the birds because they remind me of what I love rather than what I fear. And at the end of my prayers, they teach me how to listen.”