I celebrate myself, and sing myself — Walt Whitman

All quotations

I celebrate myself, and sing myself, / And what I assume you shall assume, / For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

Walt Whitman

Source: Song of Myself, section 1, Leaves of Grass, 1855 (wording of the 1891–92 edition)
Written: 1855

About this quotation

These are the opening lines of Song of Myself. In the first edition of 1855 the first line was simply “I celebrate myself”; the words “and sing myself” were added in 1881, and the version here is the final one.

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Do I contradict myself? / Very well then I contradict myself, / (I am large, I contain multitudes.)

Walt WhitmanSong of Myself, section 51, Leaves of Grass, 1855

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,

Walt WhitmanI Hear America Singing, Leaves of Grass, 1860

I loafe and invite my soul, / I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.

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