Jane Hirshfield Quotes

“Zen pretty much comes down to three things -- everything changes; everything is connected; pay attention.”

Jane Hirshfield

“How fragile we are, between the few good moments.”

Jane Hirshfield

“You may do this, I tell you, it is permitted. Begin again the story of your life.”

Jane Hirshfield

Source: The Lives of the Heart

“Neither a person entirely broken
nor one entirely whole can speak.

In sorrow, pretend to be fearless. In happiness, tremble.”

Jane Hirshfield

Source: Given Sugar, Given Salt

“Everything has two endings-
a horse, a piece of string, a phone call.

Before a life, air.
And after.

As silence is not silence, but a limit of hearing.”

Jane Hirshfield

Source: Come, Thief: Poems

“One breath taken completely; one poem, fully written, fully read - in such a moment, anything can happen.”

Jane Hirshfield

Source: Nine Gates: Entering the Mind of Poetry