Give me hunger, pain and want, Shut me out with shame and failure From your doors of gold and fame, Give me your shabbiest, weariest hunger! But leave me a little love.
Carl SandburgRead
The sea speaks a language polite people never repeat. It is a colossal scavenger slang and has no respect.
Interpretation
What this quote means
The sea expresses itself in a raw and unfiltered way that civilized society often ignores or disrespects.
Carl Sandburg's quote reflects on the sea as a symbol of nature's untamed power and the way it communicates in a language that contrasts with human civility. The sea's voice is described as a 'colossal scavenger slang,' suggesting that it reveals truths and realities that polite society chooses to overlook or sanitize, emphasizing a disconnect between human sensibilities and the brutal honesty of the natural world.
Themes
SeaNatureCommunicationPowerHonesty
In practice
Example use cases
During a beach cleanup event, this quote can be shared to highlight the rawness of nature.
More from Carl Sandburg
All quotes βNothing happens... but first a dream.
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Read the dictionary from A to Izzard today. Get a vocabulary. Brush up on your diction. See whether wisdom is just a lot of language.
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My name is Truth and I am the most elusive captive in the universe.
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There is an eagle in me that wants to soar, and there is a hippopotamus in me that wants to wallow in the mud.
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A liar goes in fine clothes, a liar goes in rags, a liar is a liar, clothes or no clothes.
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