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Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman Quotes

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Famous Walt Whitman Quotes

“What do you think has become of the young and old men? And what do you think has become of the women and children? They are alive and well somewhere, The smallest sprout shows there is really no death, And if ever there was it led forward life, and does not wait at the end to arrest it, And ceas'd the moment life appear'd. All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses, And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.”

IfsThinkingMenWellsChildrenDoeDifferentEndsMomentsShowsYoungDeathDiesWaitingAliveOld ManCollapseSmallestLeaves Of GrassSproutsYoung And Old
Author:Walt Whitman
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“From this hour I ordain myself loos'd of limits and imaginary lines. Going where I list, my own master, total and absolute. Listening to others, and considering well what they say. Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating. Gently but with undeniable will, divesting myself of the holds that would hold me.”

WellsHoursLinesMy OwnMastersListeningIntegrityLimitsAbsolutesIndependenceListsReceivingImaginaryContemplatingConsideringHold MeListening To OthersPausingImaginary Lines
Book:Annotated LEAVES OF GRASS with English Grammar Exercises: by Walt Whitman (Author), Robert Powell (Editor)
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“Well, every man has a religion; has something in heaven or earth which he will give up everything else for - something which absorbs him - which may be regarded by others as being useless - yet it is his dream, it is his lodestar, it is his master. That, whatever it is, seized upon me, made me its servant, slave - induced me to set aside the other ambitions a trail of glory in the heavens, which I followed, followed with a full heart. ...When once I am convinced, I never let go.”

MenGivingWellsHeartMayMadeDreamEarthHeavenMastersLetting GoGiving UpAmbitionGloryCommitmentSlaveConvincedEvery ManUselessServantTrailsNever Let GoFull Hearts
Author:Walt Whitman
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“Note, to-day, an instructive, curious spectacle and conflict. Science, (twin, in its fields, of Democracy in its)—Science, testing absolutely all thoughts, all works, has already burst well upon the world—a sun, mounting, most illuminating, most glorious—surely never again to set. But against it, deeply entrench'd, holding possession, yet remains, (not only through the churches and schools, but by imaginative literature, and unregenerate poetry,) the fossil theology of the mythic-materialistic, superstitious, untaught and credulous, fable-loving, primitive ages of humanity.”

WorldWellsAgeSchoolHumanityLiteratureChurchSunDemocracyFieldsConflictRemainsNotesPossessionTheologyCuriousGloriousPrimitiveTwinsTestingFossilsImaginativeMaterialisticFablesSuperstitiousIlluminating
Book:Delphi Complete Works of Walt Whitman (Illustrated)
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“That's beautiful: the hurrah game! well — it's our game: that's the chief fact in connection with it: America's game: has the snap, go fling, of the American atmosphere — belongs as much to our institutions, fits into them as significantly, as our constitutions, laws: is just as important in the sum total of our historic life.”

WellsImportantFactsAmericaBeautifulLawGamesFitConnectionsConstitutionInstitutionsChiefsAtmosphereHistoricSnapsFling
Author:Walt Whitman
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“Now understand me well. It is provided in the essence of things that from any fruition of success, no matter what, shall come forth something to make a greater struggle necessary.”

WellsMatterStruggleGreaterEssenceNo Matter WhatUnderstand MeFruition
Book:Annotated LEAVES OF GRASS with English Grammar Exercises: by Walt Whitman (Author), Robert Powell (Editor)
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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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“My rule has been, so far as I could have any rule (I could have no cast-iron rule) - my rule has been, to write what I have to say the best way I can - then lay it aside - taking it up again after some time and reading it afresh - the mind new to it. If there's no jar in the new reading, well and good - that's sufficient for me.”

IfsWayWritingMindWellsHas BeensI CanReadingLaysCastsBest WaySufficientIronJars
Book:Walt Whitman's Camden conversations
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