All music is is what awakes from you when you are reminded by the instruments.
Walt WhitmanRead
I cannot too often repeat that Democracy is a word the real gist of which still sleeps, quite unawakened, notwithstanding the resonance and the many angry tempests out of which its syllables have come, from pen or tongue. It is a great word, whose history, I suppose, remains unwritten because that history has yet to be enacted.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Democracy is a profound concept that has yet to be fully realized in practice.
In this quote, Walt Whitman reflects on the term 'Democracy', suggesting that while it is widely discussed and debated, its true essence and potential remain largely unexplored and unfulfilled. He emphasizes that the history of Democracy is not merely recorded in books and speeches, but rather must be enacted through real-world actions and experiences that have yet to fully manifest.
Themes
DemocracyFreedomPoliticsHistorySociety
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in discussions about political reforms during a civic engagement seminar.
More from Walt Whitman
All quotes →Did 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 WhitmanRead
In the confusion we stay with each other, happy to be together, speaking without uttering a single word.
Walt WhitmanRead
A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.
Walt WhitmanRead
Now, dearest comrade, lift me to your face,_x000D_ _x000D_ We must separate awhileHere! take from my lips this kiss._x000D_ _x000D_ Whoever you are, I give it especially to you;_x000D_ _x000D_ So long!And I hope we shall meet again.
Walt WhitmanRead
And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral drest in his shroud.
Walt WhitmanRead
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