I heard them talking to one another in murmurs and whispers. They talked about illness, money, shabby domestic cares. Their talk painted the walls of the dismal prison in which these men had locked themselves up. And suddenly I had a vision of the face of destiny.

— Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Wind, Sand, and Stars, Ch. 1, The Craft, 1939, Harcourt Brace (1992 edition)