Let the others be constantly in a state of restlessness and agitation, let us establish ourselves with feet firmly planted on the rock; let them be always motionless, let us make some progress; let them in their perplexity be always seeking counsel, let us at length carry wholesome counsel into practice… You can, indeed you can, if you prefer, cut all the knots at one stroke instead of untying them one by one. We are engaged with a hydra; there will be no end unless we cut off its ever-sprouting heads in the style of Heracles!
- Petrarch, from the book The Greatest Escape: Adventures in the History of Solitude, David Balcom