By subscribing to Inspiring Quotes you are agreeing to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Through his poems, essays, and other works, Walt Whitman left us with many wise and memorable quotes. He also gave us fascinating insight into his own life — as a humanist and one of the most influential (and, in his day, controversial) poets in American literature. In his 1839 essay “Talk to an Art-Union,” Whitman put forth his ideas about the spirit of art, which he interpreted not just as painting or sculpture but as the highest ideal of beauty. Everyone, he believed, had within them the potential for reaching this ideal, be it through creativity or greatness. “I think of few heroic actions,” he wrote, “which cannot be traced to the artistic impulse.” He concluded his celebration of art by saying that, given the freedom it deserves, art must “sooner or later tower to its loftiest and most perfect proportions.”
Humor and Life Advice From the Mind of Mel Brooks
14 Hilarious Haikus
Start Anew With These 15 Encouraging Quotes
Quotes To Help You Live a More Spontaneous Life
13 Franklin Delano Roosevelt Quotes You’ve Never Heard Before
Quotes To Help You Stay Young and Spry Forever
16 Uplifting Quotes That Help Us When We’re Feeling Down
12 Quotes Every People-Pleaser Should Read
Hilariously Relatable Quotes About Birthdays
How To Find Closure, in Quotes
7 Things You Didn’t Know About Truman Capote