Ferdinand Braudel

“I could not neglect this almost timeless history, the story of man's contact with the inanimate, neither could I be satisfied with the traditional geographic introduction to history that often figures to little purpose at the beginning of so many books, with its descriptions of the mineral deposits, types of agriculture, and typical flora, briefly listed and never mentioned again, as if the flowers did not come back every spring, the flocks of sheep migrate every year, or the ships sail on a real sea that changes with the seasons.”
― Ferdinand Braudel, O Mediterrâneo e o Mundo Mediterrâneo na Época de Filipe II - Volumes 1 e 2