Lucky New Year

"They always ate twelve raisins, one for each chime, to bring luck during the next year, a popular custom widely observed abroad. You're talking about rich countries, but do you really believe such a custom will bring you good fortune. I do not know, but perhaps my year would have been even worse had I not eaten those raisins. It was with such arguments that the man who has no God seeks gods, while he who was abandoned his gods invents God. One day we shall rid ourselves of both God and gods."

- Saramago, The Year of the Death of Ricardo Reis (72)