“The most affluent man is he that confronts all the shows he sees by equivalents out of the stronger wealth of himself.”

Defining richness as inward resources rather than possessions · Preface to Leaves of Grass, 1855

• Joy
• Truth

“The poet shall go directly to the creation.”

Calling the poet away from unnecessary preliminaries and towards making · Preface to Leaves of Grass, 1855

• Art
• Poetry

“Not Nature alone is great in her fields of freedom and the open air, in her storms, the shows of night and day, the mountains, forests, seas—but in the artificial, the work of man too is equally great.”

Finding grandeur in both nature and human creation · Essay, Democratic Vistas

• Art
• Nature