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Whitman's 'Resist much, obey little' quoted amid book bans
Original: "Resist much, obey little." — Walt Whitman, "To the States," Leaves of Grass (1860) # BannedBooks # FreedomToRead # Libr
Readers and librarians are sharing a line from Walt Whitman's 1860 poem 'To the States' — 'Resist much, obey little' — as a rallying cry against book bans and censorship. The quote, from Leaves of Grass, is being paired with hashtags on banned books, the freedom to read, and LGBTQ literature, framing Whitman's defiance of authority as solidarity with libraries and queer readers under pressure.
Why now: Ongoing debates over book bans, especially LGBTQ titles, are driving people to share literary quotes of resistance.
Walt WhitmanLeaves of Grasslibraries
Evidence
- "Resist much, obey little." — Walt Whitman, "To the States," Leaves of Grass (1860) # BannedBooks # FreedomToRead # Libraries # LGBTQ # QueerBooks # QueerNews # Pride # Reading # Books # Resist # Solidarity # Photography · wendythedruid@thistlenfern.org · 14
API: https://socialmediatrends-api.osmike.com/v1/trends/1147268