Free to Be You and Me

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This is what you shall do


by Walt Whitman



"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."

Photo from one of my most favorite states, Montana :>)
Off to the fabulous Northside Parade. Pictures hopefully soon to follow. Hear they're going to have a BedBug float. Happy and safe holiday to all.

Comments

  1. English RiderJuly 4, 2011 at 11:53 AM

    Perfect choice, as usual. Happy Fourth!

    ReplyDelete
  2. OwenJuly 4, 2011 at 12:13 PM

    Were it only so, for more than a tiny few...

    ReplyDelete
  3. smartzJuly 4, 2011 at 5:57 PM

    Beautiful post. Thank you!

    ReplyDelete
  4. GailJuly 4, 2011 at 7:11 PM

    "...dismiss whatever insults your own soul"

    Beautiful words to live by.

    ReplyDelete
  5. YogaforCynicsJuly 4, 2011 at 9:57 PM

    Whitman at his best (from, if I remember correctly, the introduction to one of the later editions of Leaves of Grass...).

    ReplyDelete

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Hey, thanks for your thoughts and your time:>)

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