Walt Whitman

"Songs of myselfI am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul, The pleasures of heaven are with me and the pains of hell are with me, The first I graft and increase upon myself, the latter I translate into new tongue. I am the poet of the woman the same as the man, And I say it is as great to be a woman as to be a man,.."

"Sometimes with one I love, I fill myself with rage, for fear I effuse unreturn'd love; But now I think there is no unreturn'd love—the pay is certain, one way or another; (I loved a certain person ardently, and my love was not return'd; Yet out of that, I have written these songs.)"

"Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you."

"Every moment of light and dark is a miracle."

"Argue not concerning God,…re-examine all that you have been told at church or school or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your soul…"

"Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss what insults your soul."

"The dirtiest book of all is the expurgated book."

"I celebrate myself, and sing myself."

"I have said that the soul is not more than the body,And I have said that the body is not more than the soul,And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one's-self is,"

"O the joy of my spirit--it is uncaged--it darts like lightning!It is not enough to have this globe or a certain time,I will have thousands of globes and all time."

"I have said that the soul is not more than the body,And I have said that the body is not more than the soul,And nothing, not God, is greater to one than one's-self is,"

"Do I contradict myself? Very well, then, I contradict myself; I am large -- I contain multitudes."

"I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I loveIf you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.You will hardly know who I am or what I meanBut I shall be good health to you nonethelessAnd filter and fibre your blood."

"Songs of myselfClear 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."

"This is the city, and I am one of the citizens/Whatever interests the rest interests me"

"Why are there trees I never walk under but large and melodious thoughts descend upon me?"

"Whatever satisfies the soul is truth."

"The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of the light of letters, is simplicity."

"Re-examine all you have been told. Dismiss what insults your soul."

"Argue not concerning God,…re-examine all that you have been told at church or school or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your soul…"