101 Walt Whitman Quotes that Will Help You Re-evaluate Life
Walt Whitman is one of the most modern poets in the sense that his ideas and meanings have shaped the world we live in. And although these verses were written some 150 years ago, they continue to excite us because of the meaning of personal freedom they carry; a way of enjoying life that can be lived in our modern societies. He speaks about being free, feeling who you are, about love and the beauty of the human body.
We hope you enjoy these verses and the pairing with the images. Don’t forget to share, it helps spread the word.
Table of Contents
- Short Quotes by Walt Whitman
- Love Quotes by Walt Whitman
- Wisdom and Life Quotes by Walt Whitman
- Long Walt Whitman Quotes
- Walt Whitman Quotes on Images
Short Quotes by Walt Whitman
- Resist much, obey little. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- Whatever satisfies the soul is truth. Walt Whitman
- I have learned that to be with those I like is enough. Walt Whitman
- Be curious, not judgmental. Walt Whitman
- I swear to you, there are divine things more beautiful than words can tell. Walt Whitman
- I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,
I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass - Happiness, not in another place but this place…not for another hour, but this hour. Walt Whitman
- Do anything, but let it produce joy. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- I am as bad as the worst, but, thank God, I am as good as the best. Walt Whitman
- Peace is always beautiful. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- Pointing to another world will never stop vice among us; shedding light over this world can alone help us. Walt Whitman
- These are the days that must happen to you. Walt Whitman
- The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity. Walt Whitman
- Afoot and lighthearted I take to the open road, healthy, free, the world before me. Walt Whitman
- If you done it, it ain’t bragging. Walt Whitman
- And as to me, I know nothing else but miracles. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- Some people are so much sunshine to the square inch. Walt Whitman
- I am satisfied… I see, dance, laugh, sing. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- The strongest and sweetest songs yet remain to be sung. Walt Whitman
- In the faces of men and women, I see God. Walt Whitman
- Give me the splendid, silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- I tramp a perpetual journey. Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
- From this hour I ordain myself loos’d of limits and imaginary lines. Walt Whitman
- There is no God any more divine than Yourself. Walt Whitman
- The future is no more uncertain than the present. Walt Whitman
- A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books. Walt Whitman
- The real war will never get in the books. Walt Whitman
- Stranger, if you passing meet me and desire to speak to me, why should you not speak to me?
And why should I not speak to you? Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass - Now, Voyager, sail thou forth, to seek and find. Walt Whitman
- My words itch at your ears till you understand them. Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
- Let your soul stand cool and composed. Walt Whitman
- To have great poets, there must be great audiences. Walt Whitman
before a million universes. Walt Whitman, Song of Myself - Nothing can happen more beautiful than death. Walt Whitman
- it makes such difference where you read. Walt Whitman
- Behold I do not give lectures or a little charity, when I give I give myself. Walt Whitman
- But where is what I started for so long ago? And why is it yet unfound? Walt Whitman
- The powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- The dirtiest book of all is the expurgated book. Walt Whitman
- I meet new Walt Whitmans everyday. There are a dozen of them afloat. I don’t know which Walt Whitman I am. Walt Whitman
- I am larger, better than I thought;
I did not know I held so much goodness. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass - Henceforth I ask not good fortune. I myself am good fortune. Walt Whitman
- I wear my hat as I please, indoors or out. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- Stand up for the Crazy and Stupid. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
Love Quotes by Walt Whitman
- We were together. I forget the rest. Walt Whitman
- When I give, I give myself. Walt Whitman
- What is that you express in your eyes? It seems to me more than all the print I have read in my life. Walt Whitman
- And your very flesh shall be a great poem. Walt Whitman
- Touch me, touch the palm of your hand to my body as I pass, be not afraid of my body. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- Loafe with me on the grass—loose the stop from your throat;
Not words, not music or rhyme I want—not custom or lecture, not even the best;
Only the lull I like, the hum of your valved voice.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass - I will You, in all, Myself, with promise to never desert you,
To which I sign my name.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass - 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.
Walt Whitman, Song of Myself - If you want me again look for me under your boot soles. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- Whoever you are, now I place my hand upon you
That you may be my poem
I whisper with my lips close to your ear
I have loved many women and men, but I love none better than you.
Walt Whitman - Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems,
You shall possess the good of the earth and sun…. there are millions of suns left,
You shall no longer take things at second or third hand…. nor look through the eyes of the dead…. nor feed on the spectres in books,
You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,
You shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass - 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.
Walt Whitman - I am to wait, I do not doubt I am to meet you again, I am to see to it that I do not lose you. Walt Whitman
Wisdom and Life Quotes by Walt Whitman
- Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you. Walt Whitman
- I discover myself on the verge of a usual mistake. Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
- Every moment of light and dark is a miracle. Walt Whitman
- I hear and behold God in every object, yet understand God not in the least. Walt Whitman
- I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person. Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
- I exist as I am, that is enough,
If no other in the world be aware I sit content,
And if each and all be aware I sit content.
One world is aware, and by the far the largest to me, and that is myself,
And whether I come to my own today or in ten thousand or ten million years,
I can cheerfully take it now, or with equal cheerfulness, I can wait.
Walt Whitman - 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.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass - Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself; I am large – I contain multitudes. Walt Whitman
- Failing to fetch me at first, keep encouraged. Missing me one place, search another. I stop somewhere waiting for you. Walt Whitman, Song of Myself
- Long enough have you dream’d contemptible dreams,
Now I wash the gum from your eyes,
You must habit yourself to the dazzle of the light
and of every moment of your life.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass - Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss what insults your soul. Walt Whitman
- Battles are lost in the same spirit in which they are won. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- All goes onward and outward, nothing collapses,
And to die is different from what any one supposed, and luckier.
Walt Whitman
- I cannot be awake, for nothing looks to me as it did before, or else I am awake for the first time, and all before has been a mean sleep. Walt Whitman
- Love the earth and sun and animals,
Despise riches, give alms to everyone that asks,
Stand up for the stupid and crazy,
Devote your income and labor to others…
Walt Whitman - A writer can do nothing for men more necessary, satisfying, than just simply to reveal to them the infinite possibility of their own souls. Walt Whitman
- I accept Time absolutely.
It alone is without flaw,
It alone rounds and completes all,
That mystic baffling wonder.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass - There was never any more inception than there is now,
Nor any more youth or age than there is now;
And will never be any more perfection than there is now,
Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- Have you learned the lessons only of those who admired you, and were tender with you, and stood aside for you? Have you not learned great lessons from those who braced themselves against you, and disputed passage with you? Walt Whitman
- The road to wisdom is paved with excess. The mark of a true writer is their ability to mystify the familiar and familiarize the strange. Walt Whitman
- The secret of it all, is to write in the gush, the throb, the flood, of the moment – to put things down without deliberation – without worrying about their style – without waiting for a fit time or place. I always worked that way. I took the first scrap of paper, the first doorstep, the first desk, and wrote – wrote, wrote…By writing at the instant the very heartbeat of life is caught. Walt Whitman
- I think I will do nothing for a long time but listen, and accrue what I hear into myself…and let sound contribute toward me. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- Only themselves understand themselves and the like of themselves, as souls only understand souls. Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- To the real artist in humanity, what are called bad manners are often the most picturesque and significant of all. Walt Whitman
- I henceforth tread the world, chaste, temperate, an early riser, a steady grower. Walt Whitman
Long Walt Whitman Quotes
*This is what you shall do; Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one 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, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, 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. Walt Whitman
- O Me! O life!… of the questions of these recurring;
Of the endless trains of the faithless—of cities fill’d with the foolish;
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light—of the objects mean—of the struggle ever renew’d;
Of the poor results of all—of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me;
Of the empty and useless years of the rest—with the rest me intertwined;
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists, and identity;
That the powerful play goes on, and you will contribute a verse.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass - I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contain’d, I stand and look at them long and long.
They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things, Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago, Not one is respectable or unhappy over the whole earth.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- O captain! My Captain!
Our fearful trip is done.
The ship has weather’d every wrack
The prize we sought is won
The port is near, the bells I hear
The people all exulting
While follow eyes, the steady keel
The vessel grim and daring
But Heart! Heart! Heart!
O the bleeding drops of red
Where on the deck my captain lies
Fallen cold and dead.
Walt Whitman - Once I passed through a populous city imprinting my
brain for future use with its shows, architecture,
customs, traditions,
Yet now of all that city I remember only a woman I
Casually met there who detained me for love of me,
Day by day and night by night we were together—all else
Has long been forgotten by me,
I remember I say only that woman who passionately clung
To me,
Again we wander, we love, we separate again,
Again she holds me by the hand, I must not go,
I see her close beside me with silent lips sad and tremulous.
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
- When I heard the learn’d astronomer;
When the proofs, the figures, were ranged in columns before me;
When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide, and measure them;
When I, sitting, heard the astronomer, where he lectured with much applause in the
lecture-room,
How soon, unaccountable, I became tired and sick;
Till rising and gliding out, I wander’d off by myself,
In the mystical moist night-air, and from time to time,
Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars.
Walt Whitman - I like the scientific spirit—the holding off, the being sure but not too sure, the willingness to surrender ideas when the evidence is against them: this is ultimately fine—it always keeps the way beyond open—always gives life, thought, affection, the whole man, a chance to try over again after a mistake—after a wrong guess. Walt Whitman, Walt Whitman’s Camden Conversations
- All beauty comes from beautiful blood and a beautiful brain. If the greatnesses are in conjunction in a man or woman it is enough…the fact will prevail through the universe…but the gaggery and gilt of a million years will not prevail. Who troubles himself about his ornaments or fluency is lost. This is what you shall so: Love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one 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, go freely with powerful uneducated persons and with the young and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, 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…
Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass
Walt Whitman Quotes on Images
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