"One does not argue about The Wind in the Willows.
The young man gives it to the girl with whom he is in love, and, if she
does not like it, asks her to return his letters. The older man tries it
on his nephew, and alters his will accordingly. The book is a test of
character. We can't criticize it, because it is criticizing us. But I must
give you one word of warning. When you sit down to it, don't be so
ridiculous as to suppose that you are sitting in judgment on my taste, or
on the art of Kenneth Grahame. You are merely sitting in judgment on
yourself. You may be worthy: I don't know, But it is you who are on
trial."
A. A. Milne
"Now I have read it and reread it, and have come to accept the
characters as old friends; and I am almost more fond of it than of your
previous books. Indeed, I feel about going to Africa very much as the
sea-faring rat did when he almost made the water-rat wish to forsake
everything and start wandering!"
Theodore Roosevelt
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