"There are two modes of criticism. One which … crushes to earth without mercy all the humble buds of Phantasy, all the plants that, though green and fruitful, are also a prey to insects or have suffered by drouth. It weeds well the garden, and cannot believe the weed in its native soil may be a pretty, graceful plant. There is another mode which enters into the natural history of every thing that breathes and lives, which believes no impulse to be entirely in vain, which scrutinizes circumstances, motive and object before it condemns, and believes there is a beauty in natural form, if its law and purpose be understood."
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Essayists from the United StatesEditors from the United StatesWomen authors from the United StatesCritics from the United StatesTranslators from the United States
Original Language: English
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"Poets of the People" in Art, Literature and the Drama (1858)
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Margaret_Fuller
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Margaret Fuller
Sarah Margaret Fuller Ossoli (23 May 1810 – 19 June 1850) was an American author, journalist, critic and women's rights activist. She, her husband, and their child all died at the end of a five week voyage from Europe in a shipwreck just off of Fire Island.
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