Carmen

“Civilization was a relentless war that man was doomed to lose eventually.”
― Robert Harris, Pompeii

“One of the elders told him that when he was a boy his grandfather came to him one day and said he had two wolves fighting inside him. One was gray, the other black. The gray one wanted his grandfather to be courageous, and patient, and kind. The other, the black one, wanted his grandfather to be fearful and cruel. This upset the boy and he thought about it for a few days then returned to his grandfather. He asked, ‘Grandfather, which of the wolves will win?’” The abbot smiled slightly and examined the Chief Inspector. “Do you know what his grandfather said?” Gamache shook his head. There was a look of such sadness on the Chief Inspector’s face, it almost broke the abbot’s heart. “The one I feed,” said Dom Philippe.”
― Louise Penny, The Chief Inspector Armand Gamache Series, #7-9