I profess not to know how women’s hearts are wooed and won. To me they have always been matters of riddle and admiration. Some seem to have but one vulnerable point, or door of access; while others have a thousand avenues, and may be captured in a thousand different ways. It is a great triumph of skill to gain the former, but a still greater proof of generalship to maintain possession of the latter, for man must battle for his fortress at every door and window. He who wins a thousand common hearts is therefore entitled to some renown; but he who keeps undisputed sway over the heart of a coquette is indeed a hero. Washington Irving
About This Quote

In an era when women were beginning to have a voice in the public sphere, the notion that a woman's heart is not a thing to be conquered, but an object of admiration and skillful manipulation, was quite radical.

Source: The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow

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