“The essence of all beautiful art, all great art, is gratitude.”

Presenting gratitude as the emotional foundation of enduring art · Essay on the Greek Christian Poets and the English Poets

• Art
• Beauty
• Truth

“Sympathy is dear—very dear to me: but the sympathy of a poet, and of such a poet, is the quintessence of sympathy to me.”

Expressing the special depth of understanding she felt between fellow poets · Letter to Robert Browning, 11 January 1845

• Communication
• Friendship
• Poetry

“I do not believe in purification without suffering, in progress without struggle, in virtue without temptation.”

Linking moral growth with the necessity of resistance, difficulty and testing · Letter to Isa Blagden, c. 1850

• Growth
• Struggle
• Suffering