I remember how meticulous my father was about everything! […] on his high desk all objects had their fixed place: the inkpots, three enormous paperweights, the feather-cleaners, the ceramic candlestick and the small vase with one flour, always placed there by my lovely mother. Next to it a pile of the large white sheets of paper, soon to turn into precious objects, filled with his thoughts or lightened up by his fantasy.
"Eça de Queiroz Among His Own", Maria Eça de Queiroz
