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Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman Quotes

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Famous Walt Whitman Quotes

“As to scenery (giving my own thought and feeling), while I know the standard claim is that Yosemite, Niagara Falls, the Upper Yellowstone and the like afford the greatest natural shows, I am not so sure but the prairies and plains, while less stunning at first sight, last longer, fill the esthetic sense fuller, precede all the rest, and make North America's characteristic landscape.”

KnowsGivingFirstsShowsFeelingsLastsAmericaFallNaturalMy OwnStandardsSightClaimsLandscapeCharacteristicsSceneryStunningNorth AmericaThoughts And FeelingsPrairieYosemiteNiagaraYellowstoneNiagara Falls
Book:Specimen Days & Collect
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“Swiftly arose and spread around me the peace and knowledge that pass all the argument of the earth, And I know that the hand of God is the promise of my own, And I know that the spirit of God is the brother of my own, And that all the men ever born are also my brothers, and the women my sisters and lovers, And that a kelson of the creation is love.”

KnowsMenLoveHandsEarthSpiritPeaceBornMy OwnCreationHe ManBrotherLoversPromiseArgumentSpreadMy BrotherMy SisterSpirit Of GodHands Of God
Book:Annotated LEAVES OF GRASS with English Grammar Exercises: by Walt Whitman (Author), Robert Powell (Editor)
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“Re-examine all you have been told in school or church or in any book,and dismiss whatever insults your own soul... It is also not consistent with the reality of the soul to admit that there is anything in the known universe more divine than men and women. The master knows that he is unspeakably great and that all are unspeakably great. There will soon be no more priests... They may wait awhile, perhaps a generation or two, dropping off by degrees. A superior breed shall take their place.A new order shall arise and they shall be the priests of man,and every man shall be his own priest.”

KnowsMenMayHas BeensTwoBookSoulRealitySchoolOrderUniverseWaitingChurchKnownGenerationsDivineMastersDegreesMen And WomenEvery ManAriseSuperiorsInsultConsistentPriestsDropping
Author:Walt Whitman
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“Not I, nor anyone else can travel that road for you. You must travel it by yourself. It is not far. It is within reach. Perhaps you have been on it since you were born, and did not know. Perhaps it is everywhere - on water and land.”

KnowsHas BeensWaterBornLandSelf RelianceRelianceLife JourneyLeaves Of GrassMy JourneyLife Is A JourneyWithin Reach
Book:Walt Whitman's Song of Myself: A Sourcebook and Critical Edition
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“You must not know too much or be too precise or scientific about birds and trees and flowers and watercraft; a certain free-margin , or even vagueness - ignorance, credulity - helps your enjoyment of these things.”

KnowsHelpingCertainNatureKnowledgeToo MuchTreeIgnoranceFlowerTravelBirdEnjoymentPreciseMarginsCredulityKnowledge EducationEducation And KnowledgeVaguenessKnowledge LearningFlowering Trees
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Walt Whitman (Illustrated)
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“O YOU whom I often and silently come where you are, that I may be with you; As I walk by your side, or sit near, or remain in the same room with you, Little you know the subtle electric fire that for your sake is playing within me.”

KnowsLoveMayLittlesDreamSidesWalksRoomsFireSakeSubtleWhere You AreElectricYour Side
Book:Leaves of Grass: A Textual Variorum of the Printed Poems, 1860-1867
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“You will hardly know who I am or what I mean, But I shall be good health to you nevertheless, And filter and fibre your blood. Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged, Missing me one place search another, I stop somewhere waiting for you.”

KnowsFirstsMeanWaitingFailingBloodMissingBe GoodWho I AmNeverthelessGood HealthFiltersWaiting For YouLeaves Of GrassFetch
Book:Leaves of Grass: A Textual Variorum of the Printed Poems, 1855-1856
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“Why should I wish to see God better than this day? I see something of God each hour of the twenty-four, and each moment then, In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass; I find letters from God dropped in the street, and every one is signed by God's name, And I leave them where they are, for I know that others will punctually come forever and ever.”

KnowsMenShouldMomentsFacesNamesWishHoursMy OwnForeverFourStreetsMen And WomenLettersTwentiesGlassesThis DayShould I
Book:Walt Whitman: Selected Poems 1855-1892
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“As for me, I know nothing else but miracles, Whether I walk the streets of Manhattan, Or dart my sight over the roofs of houses toward the sky, Or wade with naked feet along the beach just in the edge of the water, Or stand under the trees in the woods, Or talk by day with any one I love, Or sleep in bed at night with any one I love, Or watch honey bees busy around the hive of a summer forenoon... Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, Or of stars shining so quiet and bright, Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring... What stranger miracles are there?”

KnowsNightHouseStarsWaterSleepWalksWatchesTreeFeetSkyStreetsBedQuietMoonSummerSpringSightMiracleShiningBusyEdgesStrangerWoodsNakedBeachHoneyDelicateBeesRoofCurvesExquisiteAugustManhattanWadeNew MoonHivesHoney Bee
Author:Walt Whitman
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“Why who makes much of a miracle? As to me I know nothing else but miracles, whether they be animals feeding in the fields, Or, birds, or the wonderfulness of insects in the air, Or the wonderfulness of the sundown, or of stars shining so quiet and bright, Or the exquisite delicate thin curve of the new moon in spring; These, with the rest, one and all, are to me, miracles.”

KnowsStarsAnimalAirFieldsQuietMoonSpringBirdMiracleShiningAnimal RightsDelicateFeedingCurvesInsectsExquisiteNew Moon
Author:Walt Whitman
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“Sweet, sane, still Nakedness in Nature! — ah if poor, sick, prurient humanity in cities might really know you once more! Is not nakedness then indecent? No, not inherently. It is your thought, your sophistication, your fear, your respectability that is indecent. There come moods when these clothes of ours are not only too irksome to wear, but are themselves indecent. Perhaps indeed he or she to whom the free exhilarating ecstasy of nakedness in Nature has never been eligible (and how many thousands there are!) has not really known what purity is — nor what faith or art or health really is.”

IfsKnowsArtStillsBodyMightHumanityPoorCitiesKnownSweetClothesSickMoodPurityEcstasySaneExhilaratingSophisticationRespectabilityNudists
Book:Specimen Days & Collect
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