Unlike his warring brothers, Aquinas was happier reflecting upon life than immersing himself within it.
Once Stendhal's mirror is replaced by stories that seem happier reflecting on the problems of story-telling, as if hugging themselves at their own cleverness, old-fashioned realism is replaced by a new form of 'hysterical realism', in which novelists such as Thomas Pynchon and Don DeLillo need to shout in order to disguise the fact that they have nothing to say, or nothing worth listening to.
But events of the following days convinced him and his family otherwise, he said, as if the outpouring of help and support portends a happy ending, reflecting the strength of prayers and faith.
In the new issue of Esquire magazine, Pitt gushes about how he hasn't "known life to be any happier" while reflecting on the days he was married to the "Friends" star.
"It was pretty incredible to win, and I was so grateful and happy," she reflects.
The happy scene reflects the broader health of New Zealand's wine industry, which had a bumper year in 2007.
"We're taught that acquisitiveness is best, and that if we keep on acquiring things, we'll be happy," he reflects.
As an interviewee, Nicks was a gift: a smart woman wise to the promotional process but happy to reflect, debate and analyse – to really, truly talk.
Hodgson, by contrast, was happy to reflect on a display that, in Steven Gerrard's absence, "stops people accusing us of being a one-man or a two-man team".
Although Dimbleby confessed that he did not enjoy being interviewed, he revealed that, unlike David Cameron and Boris Johnson, he was happy to reflect on his time as a member of Oxford University's infamous Bullingdon Club.
