Whitman isn't endorsing wishful thinking here—he's making a radical claim about how we recognize genuine knowledge. Most of us assume truth exists *outside* us, waiting to be discovered, but Whitman suggests that our deepest sense of rightness acts as a kind of compass, that what genuinely nourishes us spiritually points toward something real. A person who leaves a prestigious but hollow career to do quieter, meaningful work often discovers that the peace they find—that soul-satisfaction—validates the choice far more persuasively than any external measure could. Whitman invites us to trust the quiet certainty we feel when we're living in alignment with what we truly believe, even when the world insists otherwise.