One Hundred Years of Solitude

Colonel Aureliano Buendía
could understand only that
the secret of a good old age is
simply an honorable pact
with solitude. He would get
up at five in the morning after
a light sleep, have his eternal
mug of bitter coffee in the
kitchen, shut himself up all
day in the workshop, and at
four in the afternoon he
would go along the porch
dragging a stool, not even
noticing the fire of the rose