"I always knew in my heart Walt Whitman's mind to be more like my own than any other man's living. As he is a very great scoundrel this is not a pleasant confession"

This quote by Gerard Manley Hopkins talks to the complexity of humanity. Hopkins recognizes that he has a deep link to Walt Whitman, despite the fact that Whitman is a "very excellent scoundrel". This recommends that Hopkins is able to acknowledge the excellent and also negative in Whitman, and also in himself. He is able to accept that he and also Whitman share comparable ideas as well as sensations, even though Whitman is not an ethical individual. This quote speaks to the concept that we can all connect to people who have actually done incorrect, which we can still find commonalities with them. It additionally talks with the idea that we need to not evaluate people based upon their past errors, but instead on their capacity for development as well as redemption.