Matthew Arnold
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Criticism is a disinterested endeavor to establish a current of fresh and true ideas for literature to draw inspiration from. (disinterestness does not mean neutral as in uninvolved judges, rather it signifies a kind of disencumbered free-play.).
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Criticism is a disinterested endeavor to learn and propagate the best that is known and thought in the world.
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Culture is a force serving the important function of aiding us in the pursuit of perfection, of a knowledge of the universal order. It is a force leading humanity to 'sweetness and light'.
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Culture is properly described as the love of perfection... it is a study of perfection.
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Culture is the acquainting of ourselves with the best that has been known and said in the world, and thus with the history of the human spirit.
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Culture is the passion for sweetness and light, and what is more, the passion for making them prevail.
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Culture is then properly described not as having its origin in curiosity, but as having its origin in the love of perfection: it is a study of perfection.
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Distinterestedness is a kind of free play of mind which pushes outside of where one is. It is not 'not interested' but, following the latin, something closer to 'not caught up in'.
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Poetry is better understood in the verse of the artist than in the prose of the critic.
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Poetry is interpretative both by having natural magic in it, and by having moral profundity.
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Poetry is simply the most beautiful, impressive and widely effective mode of saying things, and hence its importance.