The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne
The thing is this. That of all the several ways of beginning a book which are now in practice throughout the known world, I am confident my own way of doing it is the best ... for I begin with writing the first sentence and trusting to Almighty God for the second.

A verse by Mike Heron
The greatest friend I have in life
Was hidden long from me
Above the mountains cold and wide
Beneath the sacred tree
That sacred tree whose bark I touched
Whose leaves did tell to me
The ancient tales that made me sure
My friend would come to me

Woman Nude Before Garden
The madman broke his chains and headed
straight from Utrecht to Amsterdam
distance 45 miles
where he carved a large circle in the Picasso
value 4.6 million
with a small knife

Unencumbered by irony
Saskia Bruines, City Councillor for Culture said
everyone is very shocked, it is horrible what has happened.