Critics are a kind of freebooters in the republic of letters--who, like deer, goats and divers other graminivorous animals, gain subsistence by gorging upon buds and leaves of the young shrubs of the forest, thereby robbing them of their verdure, and retarding their progress to maturity.
Washington IrvingI profess not to know how women's hearts are wooed and won. To me they have always been matters of riddle and admiration.
Washington Irving