I cannot too often repeat that Democracy is a word the real gist of which still sleeps, quite unawakened, notwithstanding the resonance and the many angry tempests out of which its syllables have come, from pen or tongue. It is a great word, whose history, I suppose, remains unwritten because that history has yet to be enacted. Much like the word nature.
This quote on a poster with Whitman sitting in his wheel chair was one of the last semi precious items I lost during my homelessness. I had tried to locate a new copy back in the 90's, an obscure gift shop called the Barn in Massachusetts, that had no listing twenty years after the initial purchase. Leaves of Grass stands as one of the great American poetry books, and his wisdom was probably second only to his compassionate nature.
Whitman's younger brother was wounded during the civil war, and Walt traveled to DC to the hospital where his brother was, and stayed as a volunteer throughout the entire civil war. Long before the Russian revolution, he compares and contrasts democracy and communism. He also emphasizes the importance of an educated or informed public in sustaining a democracy, and says that battles for democracy exist today with as much importance as during the times of the revolution.
Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you.
I have learned that to be with those I like is enough.
I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.
To the real artist in humanity, what are called bad manners are often the most picturesque and significant of all. Walt Whitman
To have great poets, there must be great audiences.
Freedom - to walk free and own no superior.
So much Whitman to take in, so many works, and so easy to pull up. Enjoy the wis
dom of a master.
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