“I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.”
“Oh while I live, to be the ruler of life, not a slave, to meet life as a powerful conqueror, and nothing exterior to me will ever take command of me.”
“Re-examine all that you have been told... dismiss that which insults your soul.”
“The genius of the United States is not best or most in its executives or legislatures, nor in its ambassadors or authors or colleges, or churches, or parlors, nor even in its newspapers or inventors, but always most in the common people.”
“In the confusion we stay with each other, happy to be together, speaking without uttering a single word.”
“I may be as bad as the worst, but, thank God, I am as good as the best.”
“Have you learned the lessons only of those who admired you, and were tender with you, and stood aside for you? Have you not learned great lessons from those who braced themselves against you, and disputed passage with you?”
“The beauty of independence, departure, actions that rely on themselves.”
“Be curious, not judgmental.”
“Do I contradict myself? Very well, then I contradict myself, I am large, I contain multitudes.”