Walt Whitman — "I believe in the power of love, and I believe in the power of friendship."

"I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul. The pleasures of heaven are with me and the pains of hell are with me."

"We will not have great individuals or great leaders, but a great average bulk, unprecedentedly great."

"Have you learned 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 reject you, and insult you, and smite you?"

"I have no doubt that the universe is a friendly place."

"A man is not a whole man without a woman... and a woman is not a whole woman without a man."