One Hundred Years of Solitude

were a revelation. It had
never occurred to him until
then to think that literature
was the best plaything that
had ever been invented to
make fun of people, as
Álvaro demonstrated during
one night of revels. Some
time would have to pass
before Aureliano realized that
such arbitrary attitudes had
their origins in the example of
the wise Catalonian, for
whom wisdom was worth