“I prefer commencing with the consideration of an effect.”

Expressing his belief that a work should be designed around its intended emotional impact · Literary essay, 1846

• Art

“The true artist will avail himself of no “license” whatever.”

Rejecting poetic licence as an excuse for weak or unnatural expression · Published marginal notes, 1849

• Art
• Poetry
• Truth

“It is by no means an irrational fancy that, in a future existence, we shall look upon what we think our present existence, as a dream.”

Imagining earthly life as a temporary state viewed differently after death · Published marginal notes, 1849

• Death
• Faith
• Mortality