"I shall not be vexed: it was not written for this age, which wants nothing but cold reason. I own to..."

"I shall not be vexed: it was not written for this age, which wants nothing but cold reason. I own to you, and you will think me madder than ever, that of all my works, it is the only one in which I pleased myself: I let my imagination run: my visions and my passion kindled me. I wrote it in a defiance of rules, critics and philosophies, and it seems to me all the better for that."

- Horace Walpole, on The Castle of Otranto. This is the best quote I have ever read - I seriously identify with ...