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Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman Quotes

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Famous Walt Whitman Quotes

“Song of myself A child said What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands; How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he. I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of hopeful green stuff woven. Or I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord, A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt, Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners, that we may see and remark, and say Whose? Or I guess the grass is itself a child, the produced babe of the vegetation.”

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Author:Walt Whitman
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“Lo! body and soul!--this land! Mighty Manhattan, with spires, and The sparkling and hurrying tides, and the ships; The varied and ample land,--the South And the North in the light--Ohio's shores, and flashing Missouri, And ever the far-spreading prairies, covered with grass and corn.”

SoulBodyLightLandNew YorkSouthShipsGrassCoveredShoreTidesCornManhattanOhioSparklingPrairieHurryingMissouriSpires
Book:Leaves of Grass: A Textual Variorum of the Printed Poems, 1860-1867
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“Wisdom is not finally tested in schools, Wisdom cannot be pass'd from one having it to another not having it, Wisdom is of the soul, is not susceptible of proof, is its own proof, Applies to all stages and objects and qualities and is content, Is the certainty of the reality and immortality of things, and the excellence of things; Something there is in the float of the sight of things that provokes it out of the soul.”

SoulRealitySchoolQualityStageObjectsSightExcellenceProofCertaintyImmortalityProvokingTestedFloatsSusceptibleLeaves Of Grass
Book:Selected poems
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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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“Re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh shall be a great poem, and have the richest fluency, not only in its words, but in the silent lines of its lips and face, and between the lashes of your eyes, and in every motion and joint of your body.”

Has BeensBookSoulBodyEyeSchoolFacesChurchLinesSilentLipsFleshYour BodyInsultJointsLashesLeaves Of GrassFluency
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Walt Whitman (Illustrated)
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“This is what you should do: love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence toward the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown or to any man or number of men ... re-examine all you have been told at school or church or in any book, dismiss what insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem.”

PeopleMenGivingShouldHas BeensBookSoulSchoolEarthHateAsksChurchAnimalNumbersKnownSunCrazyStupidLaborRichesArguingFleshIncomeInsultPetHatsTyrantsDespiseIndulgenceLeaves Of GrassHaving PatienceAlmsEarth And Sun
Author:Walt Whitman
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“A murmuring, fateful, giant voice, out of the earth and sky, Voice of a mighty dying tree in the Redwood forest dense.... [T]he wood-spirits came from their haunts of a thousand years, to join the refrain; But in my soul I plainly heard. Murmuring out of its myriad leaves, Down from its lofty top, rising two hundred feet high, Out of its stalwart trunk and limbs - out of its foot-thick bark, That chant of the seasons and time - chant, not of the past only, but of the future.”

YearsTwoSoulEarthPastSpiritVoiceHeardTreeFeetSkyDyingThousandHundredSeasonsWoodsForestsMy SoulGiantsRisingThickThousand YearsLimbsLoftyRefrainBarkDenseTrunksMurmuringRedwoodsEarth And SkyStalwart
Author:Walt Whitman
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“Sex contains all, Bodies, Souls, meanings, proofs, purities, delicacies, results, promulgations, Songs, commands, health, pride, the maternal mystery, the seminal milk; All hopes, benefactions, bestowals, All the passions, loves, beauties, delights of the earth, All the governments, judges, gods, follow'd persons of the earth, These are contain'd in sex, as parts of itself, and justifications of itself.”

PersonsSoulBodyGovernmentEarthSongPassionSexLove IsResultsMysteryJudgingPrideDelightProofCommandPurityMilkJustificationDelicacyLove Passion
Book:Leaves of Grass
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“Sure as the most certain sure .... plumb in the uprights, well entreated, braced in the beams, Stout as a horse, affectionate, haughty, electrical, I and this mystery we stand. Clear and sweet is my soul .... and clear and sweet is all that is not my soul, Lack one lacks both .... and the unseen is proved by the seen Till that becomes unseen and receives proof in its turn. To elaborate is no avail .... Learned and unlearned feel that it is so.”

FeelsWellsSoulSpiritCertainReligionTurnsSpiritualityClearMysterySweetHorseProofMy SoulUnseenBeamElectricalAffectionateStoutHaughty
Author:Walt Whitman
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