All music is is what awakes from you when you are reminded by the instruments.
Walt WhitmanRead
As soon as histories are properly told there is no more need of romances.
Interpretation
True stories can be more compelling than fictional tales.
Walt Whitman's quote suggests that when the narratives of history are effectively conveyed, they possess so much depth, emotion, and significance that they surpass fabricated stories or romances. These historical accounts can evoke strong feelings and reveal profound truths about human experience, illustrating that reality can be just as engaging, if not more so, than fiction.
In practice
In a discussion about the importance of historical education.
All music is is what awakes from you when you are reminded by the instruments.
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.
In the confusion we stay with each other, happy to be together, speaking without uttering a single word.
A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.
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.
And whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral drest in his shroud.
In literature, you know only what you imagine
The profession of book writing makes horse racing seem like a solid, stable business.
Under adversity, under oppression, the words begin to fail, the easy words begin to fail. In order to convey things accurately, the human being is almost forced to find the most precise words possible, which is a precondition for literature.
A good novel tells us the truth about its hero; but a bad novel tells us the truth about its author.
Sing, O muse, of the rage of Achilles, son of Peleus, that brought countless ills upon the Achaeans.
Novelists go about the strenuous business of marrying and burying their people, or else they send them to sea, or to Africa, or at the least, out of town. Essayists in their stillness ponder love and death.
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