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Her indulgent tenderness, the frankness of her temper, and my innate rising curiosity, soon removed all distance between us: like friends of an equal age, we freely conversed on every topic, familiar or abstruse; and it was her delight and reward to observe the first shoots of my young ideas. Pain and languor were often soothed by the voice of instruction and amusement; and to her kind lessons I ascribe my early early and invincible love of reading, which I would not exchange for the treasures of India.
— Edward Gibbon (8 May 1737 – 16 January 1794); English historian. My Life and Writings. Said of his aunt, Mrs. Catherine Porten, who had a great deal of influence on him after the death of his mother when he was only 10 years old.
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