"All transformations occur without the least expediture of energy.  This is fundamental.  If effort were required, even the most minimal amount—and given that in a transformation the point of departure and arrival are identical, i.e. the 'transformed'—energy would be left over and would, in turn, inflate one end or the other of the universe, creating a bulge and returning us to the realm of the monstrous." —César Aira (as translated by Katherine Silver), The Literary Conference