Some men never heard of the Asiatic writings, and others will not be convinced that there is any thing valuable in them some pretend to be busy, and others are really idle; some detest the Persians, because they believe in Mahomed, and others despise their language because they no not understand we all love to excuse, or to conceal, our ignorance.
Sir William Jones was an English philologist and scholar of ancient India, particularly known for his proposition of the existence of a relationship among Indo-European languages. He was also the founder of the Asiatic Society.