{"product_id":"re-examine-all-you-have-been-told-whitman-t-shirt","title":"Re-examine All You Have Been Told — Whitman T-Shirt","description":"\u003cp\u003eA thirty-six-year-old former printer with no literary reputation set most of the type himself, put no author name on the title page, and opened the book with eleven pages telling the reader how to live. That was July 1855.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eWalt Whitman, Preface to Leaves of Grass, first edition, 1855\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e\"…re-examine all you have been told…\"\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eContext\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt arrives inside a long run of commands — love the earth, despise riches, argue not concerning God, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown. Then this one, aimed at every institution that ever handed you an answer: school, church, and any book, his own included.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe sentence finishes: \u003cem\u003edismiss whatever insults your own soul, and your very flesh shall be a great poem.\u003c\/em\u003e That's the payoff for doing the work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWho It's For\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYou've gone back and questioned something you were certain of and found it didn't hold\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eYou read the source before you quote it\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eIf you've ever changed your mind in public and been glad you did, this is your shirt\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eThe Design\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe line doesn't hold its place. It starts where you expect and then steps sideways, so the words never sit square on the chest — a sentence about not accepting what you were handed, set so it won't settle.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat deliberate imbalance is \u003cem\u003efukinsei\u003c\/em\u003e, the Japanese idea that something left uneven holds attention longer than something squared up. The dots at both ends are doing honest work: Whitman's sentence runs on in both directions, and the shirt says so rather than pretending the fragment is the whole.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eAbout This Tee\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLightweight 4.2 oz\/yd² combed and ring-spun cotton\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eUnisex relaxed fit\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eVintage black\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eMachine wash cold, inside out; tumble dry low\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eQuoteiac logo on the left sleeve\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eSize Chart (Bella+Canvas)\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"table-responsive\"\u003e\n\u003ctable cellpadding=\"5\"\u003e\n\u003ctbody\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWIDTH (inches)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLENGTH (inches)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eXS\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e15½\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e25\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eS\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e17½\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e26\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eM\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e19½\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e27\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eL\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e21½\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e28\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eXL\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e23½\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e29\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e2XL\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e25½\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e30\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/tbody\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eWalt Whitman, in Plain English\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eBorn in West Hills, New York, 1819; died in Camden, New Jersey, 1892\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eLeft school at eleven and learned the printing trade — he set type, chose paper, and argued with binders for the rest of his life\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSelf-published the first \u003cem\u003eLeaves of Grass\u003c\/em\u003e in 1855: a preface and twelve untitled poems, his name nowhere on the title page. He rebuilt the book five more times over the next twenty-six years\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eSent a copy to Ralph Waldo Emerson, who wrote back calling it extraordinary. Whitman printed the compliment on the spine of the second edition without asking\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eWorked as a schoolteacher, a newspaper editor and a government clerk — the poems came out of the day job, not instead of it\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\n\u003ch3\u003eMore from this collection\u003c\/h3\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/products\/re-examine-all-you-have-been-told-whitman-phone-case\"\u003eRe-examine All You Have Been Told — Whitman Phone Case\u003c\/a\u003e — the same instruction, carried. See the full \u003ca href=\"\/collections\/walt-whitman\"\u003eWalt Whitman collection\u003c\/a\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ca href=\"\/blogs\/journal\/walt-whitman-be-curious-not-judgmental\"\u003eRead: Ted Lasso's Best Quote Came From a 1986 Advice Column →\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Quoteiac","offers":[{"title":"XS","offer_id":43137000931422,"sku":"4390688_21593","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"S","offer_id":43137000964190,"sku":"4390688_21594","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"M","offer_id":43137000996958,"sku":"4390688_21595","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"L","offer_id":43137001029726,"sku":"4390688_21596","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"XL","offer_id":43137001062494,"sku":"4390688_21597","price":32.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true},{"title":"2XL","offer_id":43137001095262,"sku":"4390688_21598","price":34.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0554\/8664\/4318\/files\/Re-Examine-Whitman-Tee-front.png?v=1786228770","url":"https:\/\/quoteiac.com\/products\/re-examine-all-you-have-been-told-whitman-t-shirt","provider":"Quoteiac","version":"1.0","type":"link"}