Digressions, incontestably, are the sunshine; -- they are the life,
the soul of reading; -- take them out of this book for instance, -- you
might as well take the book along with them; ... restore them to
the writer; -- he steps forth like a bridegroom, -- bids All hail;
brings in variety, and forbids appetite to fail.
-- Laurence Sterne. Tristram Shandy.