“Correct” spelling, indeed, is one of the arts that are far more esteemed by schoolma’ams than by practical men, neck-deep in the heat and agony of the world. – H.L. Mencken, The American Language, SupplementII: An Inquiry into the Developme

[B]ut why care for grammar as long as we are good? – Artemus Ward (1834–1867), Pyrotechny, “V.—What This Young Man Said”

I believe that every English poet should read the English classics, master the rules of grammar before he attempts to bend or break them, travel abroad, experience the horror of sordid passion and — if he is lucky enough — know the love of an honest woman. – Robert Graves (1895–1985), lecture at Oxford, quoted in Time, 1961 Decembe