What you shall do
This is what you shall do:
Love the earth
and sun
and the animals,
despise riches,
give alms to every one that asks,
stand up for the stupid
and crazy,
devote your income
and labor to others,
hate tyrants,
argue not concerning God,
have patience
and indulgence toward the people,
take off your hat to nothing known
or unknown
or to any man
or number of men,
go freely with powerful uneducated persons
and with the young
and with the mothers of families,
read these leaves in the open air
every season
of every year
of your life,
re-examine all you have been told at school
or church
or in any book,
dismiss whatever insults your own soul,
and your very flesh shall be a great poem
and have the richest fluency
not only in its words
but in the silent lines of its lips
and face
and between the lashes of your eyes
and in every motion
and joint of your body.
Love the earth
and sun
and the animals,
despise riches,
give alms to every one that asks,
stand up for the stupid
and crazy,
devote your income
and labor to others,
hate tyrants,
argue not concerning God,
have patience
and indulgence toward the people,
take off your hat to nothing known
or unknown
or to any man
or number of men,
go freely with powerful uneducated persons
and with the young
and with the mothers of families,
read these leaves in the open air
every season
of every year
of your life,
re-examine all you have been told at school
or church
or in any book,
dismiss whatever insults your own soul,
and your very flesh shall be a great poem
and have the richest fluency
not only in its words
but in the silent lines of its lips
and face
and between the lashes of your eyes
and in every motion
and joint of your body.
Source: Walt Whitman’s Advice on Living a Vibrant and Rewarding Life
Published on November 15, 2016 at 6:00 by Ellen
Categorised in: Books, films and TV
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