In his very rejection of art Walt Whitman is an artist. He tried to produce a certain effect by certain means and he succeeded....He stands apart, and the chief value of his work is in its prophecy, not in its performance. He has begun a prelude to larger themes. He is the herald to a new era. As a man he is the precursor of a fresh type. He is a factor in the heroic and spiritual evolution of the human being. If Poetry has passed him by, Philosophy will take note of him.

True contentment is not having everything, but in being satisfied with everything you have.

Life is one fool thing after another whereas love is two fool things after each other.

It is a much cleverer thing to talk nonsense than to listen to it.

What is beautiful is a joy for all seasons.

If one could only teach the English how to talk, and the Irish how to listen, society here would be quite civilized.

To regret one’s own experiences is to arrest one’s own development. To deny one’s own experiences is to put a lie into the lips of one’s own life. It is no less than a denial of the soul.