" He ordered a cup of tea and two biscuits for five pence and thought of nothing.—Oh, but that’s impossible.—It’s not possible to think of nothing. Certainly it was unprofessional of Fred, who was paid by the university to use his mind, and unwise of him as a lover, but there it was, he was occupied with bitter sensations, giving way to stupefaction, then to emptiness. "

― Penelope Fitzgerald , The Gate of Angels