I have heard what the talkers were talking, the talk of the beginning and the end, But I do not talk of the beginning or the end.
Walt WhitmanLoafe with me on the grassโloose the stop from your throat; Not words, not music or rhyme I wantโnot custom or lecture, not even the best; Only the lull I like, the hum of your valved voice.
Walt WhitmanFrom 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.
Walt WhitmanDid you, too, O friend, suppose democracy was only for elections, for politics, and for a party name? I say democracy is only of use there that it may pass on and come to its flower and fruit in manners, in the highest forms of interaction between people, and their beliefs - in religion, literature, colleges and schools- democracy in all public and private life.
Walt Whitman