De operatione daemonum

...of the superior. There is a sect of learned men who read nothing that is not ancient, and they hold nothing to be ancient unless it was written by those most ancient heroes. Yet, I deny that these harsh critics can deny that even in the authors of the lowest centuries, there is much from which the knowledge of historical events, philosophy, and grammar may be increased. Also, the books of those who concern themselves with even the most trivial topics at least teach readers the condition of the talents and letters of that time; this is a thing that is not useless to know, nor is it unpleasant. I am not one who, like Villoison, would take greater pleasure from reading Cinnamus or Cedrenus than Thucydides. I venerate and cherish the greatest authors with the highest admiration that they deserve; nor do I despise the more recent ones because they use poor vocabulary, violate proper syntax sentence structure, or place particles incorrectly. Since there is something to be learned from them, I would not wish to pass over even a thin spring of doctrine, and I offer whatever little bit of learning exists to those who thirst for it.