“Maybe I’m on the other side,” he mused happily; never had he felt so close to himself. He began to whistle and took off his helmet which he swung beside him from its chin strap, like a basket; now and then he touched his pistol butt in its unbuckled holster; all sense of danger had faded, but the touch of the weapon cooled his finger tips; he encouraged this strange new sense of self-sufficiency, of carrying everything he possessed on his back.

Julien Gracq, Balcony in the Forest, loc. 423