Washington Irving

It is the mother who is capable of pure love. The love of a mother is never exhausted, it never changes, it never tires. A father may turn his back on his child, brothers and sisters may become inverterate enemies; husbands may desert their wives, wives their husbands but a mother's love endures through all; in good repute, in the face of the world's condemnation a mother still loves on.

Washington Irving (April 3, 1783 – November 28, 1859) was an American author of the early 19th century. Best known for his short stories "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" and "Rip Van Winkle" (both of which appear in his book The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon), he was also a prolific essayist, biographer and historian. Irving was also the U.S. minister to Spain 1842–1845.