"Everything should be understood, and anything can be transformed-that is the modern view. Even the alchemist's projects seem plausible now. The Cavalier was not trying to understand more that he already did. The collector's impulse does not encourage the lust to understand or to transform. Collecting is a form of union. The collector is acknowledging. He is adding. He is learning. He is noting."

pg. 157, The Volcano Lover (a romance) by Susan Sontag