I am of old and young,

of the foolish as much as the wise,

Regardless of others, ever regardful of others,

Maternal as well as paternal,

a child as well as a man,

Stuffed with the stuff that is course,

and stuffed with the stuff that is fine.

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In all people I see myself,

none more and not one a barleycorn less,

And the good or bad I say of myself

I say of them.

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In the faces of men and women I see God,

and in my own face in the glass,

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Do I contradict myself?

Very well then I contradict myself,

(I am large, I contain multitudes.)

 

Walt Whitman