“To the handsome and the privileged,” she declared, as though addressing the night itself, “who can scarcely imagine being otherwise, it appears that their elders choose old age, for reasons as mysterious as their choosing to be ill or ugly. Servants faithful or impudent, louse-ridden beggars, wine-bellied fools, even munificent but crotchety patriarchs – to the handsome and the privileged it appears that all those around them have chosen, or have been assigned by Allah, the role of minor characters in the story of which they, the handsome and the privileged, are heroes.”

And then:

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2. The Marriage of Heaven and Hell XIV the ancient tradition that the world will be consumed in fire at the end of six thousand years is true,...
3. Codex Seraphinianus If you haven’t heard of the Codex Seraphinianus, then steady yourself. It appears to be one of the oddest things...
4. On Exactitude In Science In that Empire, the Art of Cartography attained such Perfection that the map of a single Province occupied the entirety...
5. Catch 22 They were the most depressing group of people Yossarian had ever been with. They were always in high spirits. They...