Commonplace Book

'"The best poets," said Lilias, didactically, "are those who never write verses, or, at all events, never publish them. Thus they can never be shrivelled up by the cold breath of criticism into ordinary cross human beings. They can enjoy every moment in peace, and think kindly of everybody. You can revel in your own opinions until you are foolish enough to write them down; but the moment you do that, somebody feels bound to contradict you..."'

from Cornelius by Mrs Henry de la Pasture (Chapter XXXI)