Brian Guthrie

“But yesterday, because of a piano and a young woman who is probably dead by now, I learned something important: Life inside is exactly the same as life outside. Both here and there, people gather together in groups; they build their walls and allow nothing to trouble their mediocre existences. They do things because they’re used to doing them, they study useless subjects, they have fun because they’re supposed to have fun, and the rest of the world can go hang – let them sort themselves out. At the very most they watch the news on television – as we often did – as confirmation of their happiness in a world full of problems and injustices.
What I’m saying is that the life of the Fraternity is exactly the same as the lives of almost everyone outside of Villette, carefully avoiding all knowledge of what lies beyond the glass walls of the aquarium. For a long time it was comforting and useful, but people change, and now I’m off in search of adventure, even though I’m sixty-five and fully aware of all the limitations that age can bring.”
― Paulo Coelho, Veronika Decides to Die