Walt Whitman

1819–1892 · American poet, essayist & journalist

Walt Whitman self-published Leaves of Grass in 1855, a slim collection of twelve untitled poems that grew, through decades of revision, into one of the founding works of American free verse. He is remembered above all for “Song of Myself,” a sprawling first-person meditation on the body, democracy, and self-acceptance.

Traced to source

1 quote we’ve traced

“I exist as I am, that is enough”

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Not actually Walt Whitman

Often misattributed to Walt Whitman

Famous lines widely pinned on Walt Whitman that we’ve traced to someone else.

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine—and shadows will fall behind you”

actually Unknown (anonymous American proverb)

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