“If he breathes into anything that was before thought small, it dilates with the grandeur and life of the universe.”

Suggesting that art can reveal greatness in overlooked things · Preface to Leaves of Grass, 1855

• Art
• Beauty

“The great poets are to be known by the absence in them of tricks, and by the justification of perfect personal candor.”

Making candour a test of serious poetry · Preface to Leaves of Grass, 1855

• Poetry
• Truth

“I well know, how the gist of this fiercest and most resolute of the world's war-like contentions resided exclusively in the unnamed, unknown rank and file.”

Shifting the meaning of war from leaders to ordinary participants · Essay, Democratic Vistas

• Memory
• War