Beyond the Equator: An Australian Memoir
Proprietors of aging premises, (p.73):
[…] I realised that I had touched on what seemed to be a profound article of faith among the proprietors of ageing premises that the doing of repairs was never easy and not to be undertaken lightly. It was like doing battle with Fate itself. In many cases the only way to outwit or overcome the cosmic forces arrayed against the would-be repairer was a policy of masterly inaction, in the hope that the God of Small Repairs would be impressed by this and come to one's aid.