I write from a thorough conviction that it is the duty of me, and with the belief that, after every drawback and shortcoming, I do my best, all things considered--that is for me, and, so being, the not being listened to by one human creature would, I hope, in nowise affect me.
The Letters of Robert Browning and Elisabeth Barret Barret: 1845-1846 (ed. 1899)