The Library of Babel

If honor and wisdom and happiness are not for me, let them be for others. Let heaven exist, though my place be in hell.

The loneliness seeps through the page. This is an obviously incredible short story, and it inspired so much that came after it. I was reminded of Piranesi, which no doubt took cues from the Library. I am sometimes floored by how much stories can accomplish with so little, that this made me anxious and sad with only a few pages.