Pirates, buccaneers, filibusters, freebooters, and corsairs appeal to the imagination of young and old. Children have always enjoyed building a raft or manning a leaking rowboat to sail or drift to an uninhabited island not far from shore, where they can pretend to be pirates to their hearts' content.

Of course, this feeling of adventure which everyone has experienced at one time or another does not mean we accept piracy as right and proper. It is really because the picturesque stories stimulate our imagination that we enjoy reading about these infamous careers. Whatever we think about their cruelty and wickedness, we must admit they were matched by their bravery and fortitude.

This text was taken from a book by Edward Roe Snow. In my opinion, the best authority of pirates, ever.