Le silence seul est le souverain mépris. - Charles-Augustin Sainte-Beuve

...je puis goûter une œuvre, mais il m'est difficile de la juger indépendamment de la connaissance de l'homme même, et je dirais volontiers: tel arbre, tel fruit.

It has often passed through my mind, says Gourville, that men have their properties almost as herbs, and that their happiness consists in having been destined or [being] destined for the things for which they were born.

To lend freshness to things known, to spread knowledge of things new; an excellent program for a critic.