“The cook got the blubber-stove going, and a little later, when I was sitting round the corner of the stove, I heard one man say, ‘Cook, I like my tea strong.’ Another joined in, ‘Cook, I like mine weak.’ It was pleasant to know that their minds were untroubled, but I thought the time opportune to mention that the tea would be the same for all hands and that we would be fortunate if two months later we had any tea at all. It occurred to me at the time that the incident had psychological interest. Here were men, their home crushed, the camp pitched on the unstable floes, and their chance of reaching safety apparently remote, calmly attending to the details of existence and giving their attention to such trifles as the strength of a brew of tea.”

— Ernest Shackleton, South