A textual critic engaged upon his business is not at all like Newton investigating the motions of the planets: he is much more like a dog hunting for… - Alfred Edward Housman

" "

A textual critic engaged upon his business is not at all like Newton investigating the motions of the planets: he is much more like a dog hunting for fleas. If a dog hunted for fleas on mathematical principles, basing his researches on statistics of area and population, he would never catch a flea except by accident.