Only roam on, therefore, all fearless, in the many garden of romantic chivalrous poesy, which drawing within its circle all that is glorious and inspiring, gave itself but little concern as to where its flowers originally grew. – C.O. Müller (Karl Otfried Müller), Introduction to a Scientific System

[S]ources are not too reliable. The words and thoughts are the thing. “The best words in the best order” is the object of all quotations. Who made the order and when is of interest, but not vital as the many quotations by “Anon.” testify. – Robert Irvine Fitzhenry (1918–2008), The Harper Book of Quotations

A vast meaning is unfolded in each line, with such power that a sentence only a line long would suffice for a whole life’s training. – Rufinus (translated from Latin), about The Sentences of Sextus