All music is is what awakes from you when you are reminded by the instruments.
Have you reckon’d a thousand acres much? have you reckon’d the earth much? Have you practis’d so long to learn to read? Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote questions the value placed on material wealth and intellectual pursuits, urging a deeper appreciation for nature and the essence of life.
Walt Whitman's quote reflects a profound contemplation about what truly holds value in life. It challenges societal norms that equate worth with material possessions and intellectual achievements, suggesting instead that true meaning lies in the connection with nature and the understanding of life's fundamental experiences. By questioning the significance of 'a thousand acres' and the pride taken in 'the meaning of poems,' Whitman encourages a shift in perspective towards appreciating the world around us and the simple yet profound insights it offers.
Themes
In practice
Example use cases
During a nature retreat, this quote can be shared to inspire appreciation for the surroundings.
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.
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.
Similar quotes
My self-confidence can be measured out in teaspoons mixed into my poetry, and it still always tastes funny in my mouth.
America is a poem in our eyes; its ample geography dazzles the imagination, and it will not wait long for metres.
In this particular tub, two knees jut up like icebergs, while minute brown hairs rise on arms and legs in a fringe of kelp; green soap navigates the tidal slosh of seas breaking on legendary beaches; in faith we shall board our imagined ship and wildly sail among sacred islands of the mad till death shatters the fabulous stars and makes us real.
The sky leans on me, me, the one upright among all horizontals.
My tears are like the quiet drift of petals from some magic rose; and all my grief flows from the rift of unremembered skies and snows. I think that if I touched the earth, it would crumble; it is so sad and beautiful, so tremulously like a dream.
Or from Browning some "Pomegranate," which if cut deep down the middle Shows a heart within blood-tinctured, of a veined humanity.