--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When I was young I once found a book in a…" description: "\"When I was young I once found a book in a Dutch translation, 'The leaves of Grass'. It was the first time a book touched me by its feeling of freedom a..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/561/karel-appel-39463_book_when-i-was-young-i-once-found-a-book-in_522312.jpg" --- # When I was young I once found a book in a Dutch… ![“When I was young I once found a book in a Dutch translation, 'The leaves of Grass'. It was the first time a book touched me by its feeling of freedom and open spaces, the way the poet spoke of the ocean by describing a drop of water in his hand. Walt Whitman was offering the world an open hand…” quote by Karel Appel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/561/karel-appel-39463_book_when-i-was-young-i-once-found-a-book-in_522312.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/561/karel-appel-39463_book_when-i-was-young-i-once-found-a-book-in_522312.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/561/karel-appel-39463_book_when-i-was-young-i-once-found-a-book-in_522312.jpg) > “When I was young I once found a book in a Dutch translation, 'The leaves of Grass'. It was the first time a book touched me by its feeling of freedom and open spaces, the way the poet spoke of the ocean by describing a drop of water in his hand. Walt Whitman was offering the world an open hand (now we call it democracy) and my 'Monument for Walt Whitman' became this open hand with mirrors, so you can see inside yourself.” [Karel Appel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-appel/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Art can embody freedom, inviting viewers to reflect on their own inner openness. **In simple terms:** Art reflects freedom and self‑reflection. Key Takeaway Engage with art to explore self. Themes art freedom reflection Mood contemplative inspirational Type philosophical creative When to use this quote - gallery visits - personal meditation - creative writing - public installations Key Concepts democracy mirrored self open spaces Questions to Reflect On - How does this artwork inspire your personal freedom? - What does the mirrored hand symbolize for you? A Different Perspective Interpretation varies; not all experience the intended openness. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Book](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) [Books](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/books/) [Democracy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/democracy/) [Drop of water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/drop-of-water/) [Dutch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/dutch/) [Feelings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/feelings/) [Leaves of grass](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/leaves-of-grass/) [Mirrors](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/mirrors/) [Monument](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/monument/) [Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/ocean/) [Open space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/open-space/) [Open spaces](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/open-spaces/) [Poet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poet/) [Poetry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/poetry/) [Space](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/space/) [Time](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/time/) [Translations](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/translations/) [Water](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/water/) [World](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/world/) ## Related quotes > [“I would think if you were going to quote Whitman you'd go for something not taken from Leaves Of Grass. Especially if you're going…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/leah-clifford/i-would-think-if-you-were-going-to-quote-whitman-you-d-go-for/) [Leah Clifford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/leah-clifford/) > [Artist Allen Crawford brings Whitman's undying text to new life in gorgeous hand-lettering and illustrations, transforming the 60-page poem originally published in 1855 as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maria-popova/artist-allen-crawford-brings-whitman-s-undying-text-to-new-life-in/) [Maria Popova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maria-popova/) > [“Walt Whitman (1819–1892). Leaves of Grass. 1900. To You WHOEVER you are, I fear you are walking the walks of dreams, I fear these…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/walt-whitman-1819-1892-leaves-of-grass-1900-to-you-whoever-you-are-i/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" is still in print. They're debating right now over Mark Twain. He's still available. Winslow Homer can still be…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wynton-marsalis/walt-whitman-s-leaves-of-grass-is-still-in-print-they-re-debating/) [Wynton Marsalis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wynton-marsalis/) > [It is no discredit to Walt Whitman that he wrote Leaves of Grass, only that he did not burn it afterwards.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-wentworth-higginson/it-is-no-discredit-to-walt-whitman-that-he-wrote-leaves-of-grass-only/) [Thomas Wentworth Higginson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-wentworth-higginson/) > [Walt Whitman, a kosmos, of Manhattan the son, Turbulent, fleshy, sensual, eating, drinking and breeding, No sentimentalist, no stander above men and women or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/walt-whitman-a-kosmos-of-manhattan-the-son-turbulent-fleshy-sensual/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [“ He is a type of our best — our rarest. Electrical, I was going to say, beyond anyone, perhaps, ever was: charged, surcharged.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/walt-whitman/he-is-a-type-of-our-best-our-rarest-electrical-i-was-going-to-say/) [Walt Whitman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/walt-whitman/) > [The English tourist in American literature wants above all things something different from what he has at home. For this reason the one American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/virginia-woolf/the-english-tourist-in-american-literature-wants-above-all-things/) [Virginia Woolf](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/virginia-woolf/) > [“And I can’t help but feel that Whitman, for all his blustering beauty, might have been just a bit too optimistic. We can hear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-green/and-i-can-t-help-but-feel-that-whitman-for-all-his-blustering-beauty/) [John Green](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-green/) > [I have donated money to the kids overseas, the open hand project and the homeless.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terrell-owens/i-have-donated-money-to-the-kids-overseas-the-open-hand-project-and/) [Terrell Owens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terrell-owens/) > [“I reached toward her with my open hand. If she wanted it, she could have it. My hand. My heart. My life. She took…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/debra-anastasia/i-reached-toward-her-with-my-open-hand-if-she-wanted-it-she-could/) [Debra Anastasia](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/debra-anastasia/) > [It is the hardest thing to close the open hand of someone you love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/luigi-pirandello/it-is-the-hardest-thing-to-close-the-open-hand-of-someone-you-love/) [Luigi Pirandello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/luigi-pirandello/) > [“To hold, you must first open your hand. Let go”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/to-hold-you-must-first-open-your-hand-let-go/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I had risked everything, and I had nothing to show for it but my open hand, lying empty and palm up toward the ceiling.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/maggie-stiefvater/i-had-risked-everything-and-i-had-nothing-to-show-for-it-but-my-open/) [Maggie Stiefvater](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/maggie-stiefvater/) > [Faith is like an empty, open hand stretched out towards God, with nothing to offer and everything to recieve](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-calvin/faith-is-like-an-empty-open-hand-stretched-out-towards-god-with/) [John Calvin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-calvin/) ## More by Karel Appel > [I don't paint, I hit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-appel/i-don-t-paint-i-hit/) [Karel Appel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-appel/) > [You have to learn it all, then forget it and start again like a child. This is the inner evolution.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-appel/you-have-to-learn-it-all-then-forget-it-and-start-again-like-a-child/) [Karel Appel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-appel/) > [If I paint like a barbarian, it's because we live in a barbarous age](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-appel/if-i-paint-like-a-barbarian-it-s-because-we-live-in-a-barbarous-age/) [Karel Appel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-appel/) > [Through play, we renew contact with childhood – My art is childlike.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-appel/through-play-we-renew-contact-with-childhood-my-art-is-childlike/) [Karel Appel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-appel/) > [The duty of the artist is not to be calculating in any sense, so that he may be free himself of human emotions while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-appel/the-duty-of-the-artist-is-not-to-be-calculating-in-any-sense-so-that/) [Karel Appel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-appel/) > [My brush-strokes start in nothing and they end in nothing, and in-between you find the image.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-appel/my-brush-strokes-start-in-nothing-and-they-end-in-nothing-and-in/) [Karel Appel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-appel/) > [As an artist you have to fight and survive the wilderness to keep your creative freedom. Creativity is very fragile.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-appel/as-an-artist-you-have-to-fight-and-survive-the-wilderness-to-keep/) [Karel Appel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-appel/) > [Every day I have to be awake to escape.. ..The whole world is sleepy. It is a real fight to be awake, to see…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-appel/every-day-i-have-to-be-awake-to-escape-the-whole-world-is-sleepy-it/) [Karel Appel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-appel/) > [My paint is like a rocket, which describes its own space. I try to make the impossible possible. What is happening I cannot foresee,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-appel/my-paint-is-like-a-rocket-which-describes-its-own-space-i-try-to-make/) [Karel Appel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-appel/) > [I'm not a pessimist. Maybe I don't have a primitive feeling of happiness, that is true. Sometimes my color is happy but not the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-appel/i-m-not-a-pessimist-maybe-i-don-t-have-a-primitive-feeling-of/) [Karel Appel](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-appel/) [Explore all 11 Karel Appel quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-appel/) ## More Book quotes > [I think a new world will arise out of the religious mists when we approach our Bible with the idea that it is not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aiden-wilson-tozer/i-think-a-new-world-will-arise-out-of-the-religious-mists-when-we/) [Aiden Wilson Tozer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aiden-wilson-tozer/) > [If I had a dollar for every time I couldn’t sleep, I could buy a billion locks and finally read a book in peace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/aesop-rock/if-i-had-a-dollar-for-every-time-i-couldn-t-sleep-i-could-buy-a/) [Aesop Rock](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/aesop-rock/) > [Young men, especially in America, write to me and ask me to recommend “a course of reading.” Distrust a course of reading! People who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/andrew-lang/young-men-especially-in-america-write-to-me-and-ask-me-to-recommend-a/) [Andrew Lang](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/andrew-lang/) > [The Rosary is the book of the blind.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/fulton-j-sheen/the-rosary-is-the-book-of-the-blind/) [Fulton J. Sheen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/fulton-j-sheen/) > [I have many who keep me going, I am very fortunate in this sense. There is nothing like a child who knows more about…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/floyd-cooper/i-have-many-who-keep-me-going-i-am-very-fortunate-in-this-sense-there/) [Floyd Cooper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/floyd-cooper/) > [I think books in which people are really happy and things are going well are probably the most challenging novels there are to write,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anna-quindlen/i-think-books-in-which-people-are-really-happy-and-things-are-going/) [Anna Quindlen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anna-quindlen/) > [It's like the query letter problem that I just mentioned, magnified a hundredfold. You might be good at telling a story, but that doesn't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/patrick-rothfuss/it-s-like-the-query-letter-problem-that-i-just-mentioned-magnified-a/) [Patrick Rothfuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/patrick-rothfuss/) > [I don't think I have made as much of my life as I should have. I should have written more books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/i-don-t-think-i-have-made-as-much-of-my-life-as-i-should-have-i/) [Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-m-schlesinger-jr/) > [Some books are not read in the right way because they have skipped a stage of opinion, assume a crystallization of information in society…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/doris-lessing/some-books-are-not-read-in-the-right-way-because-they-have-skipped-a/) [Doris Lessing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/doris-lessing/) > [“People talk about books that write themselves, and it's a lie. Books don't write themselves. It takes thought and research and a backache and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-gaiman/people-talk-about-books-that-write-themselves-and-it-s-a-lie-books/) [Neil Gaiman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-gaiman/) > [There are great books in this world and great worlds in books.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-bronte/there-are-great-books-in-this-world-and-great-worlds-in-books/) [Anne Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-bronte/) > [The purpose of this book is to supply, in the form suitable for laymen, guidance in the adoption and execution of an investment policy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/benjamin-graham/the-purpose-of-this-book-is-to-supply-in-the-form-suitable-for-laymen/) [Benjamin Graham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/benjamin-graham/) > [But I think that of all the literature that I studied, the book that did more than any other to fire my enthusiasm was…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kwame-nkrumah/but-i-think-that-of-all-the-literature-that-i-studied-the-book-that/) [Kwame Nkrumah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/kwame-nkrumah/) > [It's amazing to see things that are suggested in the book fully developed and so brilliantly realized through the artistry of the designers.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/suzanne-collins/it-s-amazing-to-see-things-that-are-suggested-in-the-book-fully/) [Suzanne Collins](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/suzanne-collins/) > [“But I’ve developed a great reputation for wisdom by ordering more books than I ever had time to read, and reading more books, by…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marilynne-robinson/but-i-ve-developed-a-great-reputation-for-wisdom-by-ordering-more/) [Marilynne Robinson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marilynne-robinson/) [Browse all 29,378 Book quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/book/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When I was young I once found a book in a Dutch translation, 'The leaves of Grass'. It was the first time a book touched me by its feeling of freedom and open spaces, the way the poet spoke of the ocean by describing a drop of water in his hand. Walt Whitman was offering the world an open hand (now we call it democracy) and my 'Monument for Walt Whitman' became this open hand with mirrors, so you can see inside yourself.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Karel Appel" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-appel/when-i-was-young-i-once-found-a-book-in-a-dutch-translation-the/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Book" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-appel/when-i-was-young-i-once-found-a-book-in-a-dutch-translation-the/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/561/karel-appel-39463_book_when-i-was-young-i-once-found-a-book-in_522312.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/561/karel-appel-39463_book_when-i-was-young-i-once-found-a-book-in_522312.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/561/karel-appel-39463_book_when-i-was-young-i-once-found-a-book-in_522312.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“When I was young I once found a book in a Dutch translation, 'The leaves of Grass'. It was the first time a…” — Karel Appel", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Karel Appel", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karel-appel/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "When I was young I once...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-appel/when-i-was-young-i-once-found-a-book-in-a-dutch-translation-the/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karel-appel/when-i-was-young-i-once-found-a-book-in-a-dutch-translation-the/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```