1. "Whoever you are, to you endless announcements!"
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2. βWisdom cannot be passed from one having it to another not having it, Wisdom is the soul.β
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3. βLet your soul stand cool and composed before a million universes."
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4. βThere is that in meβI do not know what it isβbut I know it is in me.β
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5. βNot til the sun excludes you do I exclude you.β
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6. βPoets to come! Orators, singers, musicians to come! Arouse! for you must justify me.β
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7. βDo I contradict myself? Very well then, I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes.)"
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8. βI will show that there is no imperfection in the present, and can be none in the future, And I will show that whatever happens to anybody it may be turnβd to beautiful results, And I will show that nothing can happen more beautiful than death, And I will thread a thread through my poems that time and events are compact, And that all the things of the universe are perfect miracles, each as profound as any."
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9. βWhat is that you express in your eyes? It seems to me more than all the print I have read in my life.β
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10. βAll truths wait in all things. The insignificant is as big to me as any.β
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11. βThere was never any more inception than there is now, Nor any more youth or age than there is now, And will never be any more perfection than there is now, Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.β
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12. βI project the history of the future.β
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13. βI know every one of you, I know the sea of torment, doubt, despair, and unbelief.β
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14. βI understand the large hearts of heroes, The courage of present times and all times.β
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15. "None has begun to think how divine he himself is, and how certain the future is."
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16. βI now suspect there is something fierce in you eligible to burst forth.β
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17. βOthers the sameβother who look back on me because I looked forward to them.β
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18. βNow it is you, compact, visible, realizing my poems, seeking me, Fancying how happy you were if I could be with you and become your comrade; Be it as if I were with you. (Be not too certain but I am now with you.)β
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19. βI stand and look at them long and long. They do not sweat and whine about their condition, They do not lie awake in the dark and weep for their sins, They do not make me sick discussing their duty to God, Not one is dissatisfied, not one is demented with the mania of owning things, Not one kneels to another, nor to his kind that lived thousands of years ago.β
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20. βI exist as I am, that is enough."
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21. βBehold, I do not give lectures or a little charity, When I give I give myself."
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22. βNow I re-examine philosophies and religions, They may proves well in lecture-rooms, yet not prove at all under the spacious clouds and along the landscape and flowing currents."
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23. βGoing where I list, my own master total and absolute, Listening to others, considering well what they say, Pausing, searching, receiving, contemplating, Gently, but with undeniable will.β
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24. βEach belongs here or anywhere just as much as the well-off, just as much as you. Each has his or her place in the procession.β
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25. βHow do you know who shall come from the offspring of his offspring through the centuries?β
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26. βEach of us inevitable, Each of us limitlessβeach of us with his or her right upon the earth, Each of us here as divinely as any is here.β
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27. βListen! I will be honest with you, I do not offer the old smooth prizes, but offer rough new prizes, These are the days that must happen to you.β
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28. βMan is born of woman, be not ashamed women, you are the gates of the body, and you are the gates of the soul.β
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29. βA great city is that which has the greatest men and women.β
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30. βYou shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself.β
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31. βI celebrate myself, and sing myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.β
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32. βThe clock indicates the momentβbut what does eternity indicate?"
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33. βCrowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes, how curious you are to me!"
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34. βNow I see the secret of the making of the best persons, It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth.β
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35. "Not I, not any one else can travel that road for you, You must travel it for yourself..... It is not far, it is within reach, Perhaps you have been on it since you were born and did not know."
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