I can only admire myself: people yield to me, flatter me and, what is more important, love me. Father, who at first wished to cast me down from the throne, has now almost fully understood why I am shown royal honours, and, despite a certain hardness of character, shows them to me himself
From the diary of the 18-year-old Marie Bashkirtseff, 1876
In the finale of the Strugatskys' Roadside Picnic, the Golden Ball is told: "Happiness for everybody, free, and let nobody go away unsatisfied!" I do not promise to offend nobody, but the digest really does come free of charge. So, here is the main business of the
Frederic Leighton. “Daedalus and Icarus”, 1869 Daedalus warns his son not to climb too high: the heat of the sun may melt the wax, but Icarus is already gazing into the distance, and the lamentations of a foolish old man interest him not in the least
