Walt Whitman: Despise Riches, Give Alms
on Tuesday, December 29, 2015Walt Whitman Money Quotation saying do all you can for others financially and devote yourself to doing good above love of money. Walt Whitman said:
“Despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labor to others” — Walt Whitman
This quote from Walt Whitman encourages living a generous and altruistic life. It suggests people should not value riches highly or make them a priority (“despise riches”). Instead, it advocates freely giving to those in need (“give alms to every one that asks”) as well as helping the vulnerable like the intellectually disabled (“stand up for the stupid and crazy”).
Whitman also appears to be saying one’s earnings and efforts (“income and labor”) should be devoted primarily to aiding and serving others rather than oneself.
Overall, the quote conveys Whitman’s perspective that true virtue involves showing compassion even for society’s outcasts while freely sharing what one has to improve lives beyond their own according to his worldview at the time.
Birthday: May 31, 1819 – Death: March 26, 1892