The Golden House

Give me a copper penny and I’ll tell you a golden story.

—The cry of street-corner storytellers in ancient Rome, quoted by Pliny

Ours is essentially a tragic age, so we refuse to take it tragically. The cataclysm has happened, we are among the ruins, we start to build up new little habitats, to have new little hopes. It is rather hard work: there is now no smooth road to the future: but we go round, or scramble over the obstacles. We’ve got to live, no matter how many skies have fallen.

—D. H. Lawrence, Lady Chatterley’s Lover

La vie a beaucoup plus d’imagination que nous.

—François Truffaut