“With me poetry has been not a purpose, but a passion; and the passions should be held in reverence: they must not — they cannot at will be excited, with an eye to the paltry compensations, or the more paltry commendations, of mankind.”

Insisting that true poetry arises from involuntary passion rather than calculated ambition · Preface to The Raven and Other Poems, 1845

• Passion
• Poetry
• Purpose

“I have great faith in fools — self-confidence my friends will call it.”

A wry inversion of common wisdom about self-assurance · Marginalia

• Confidence
• Folly
• Wit

“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