Status Updates From Life: A User's Manual

"In the eyes of an individual, of a family, or even a dynasty, a town, street, or house seems unchangeable, untouched by time, by the ups and downs of human life, to such an extent that we believe we can compare and contrast the fragility of our condition to the invulnerability of stone. But the same fever which... brought these buildings out of the ground... will henceforth strive for their destruction."