The story is told of a monk who joined a monastery and took a vow of silence. Once a year he was invited to appear before the abbot, and he was permitted to say one thing. After the first year when he was asked what he had to say, he replied, ‘The bed is too hard!’ At the end of the second year when he was asked, he responded, ‘The room is too cold!’ At the end of the third year he was asked the same question. He replied, ‘The food is terrible. I quit!’ At that point the abbot smiled with relief and said, ‘Thank goodness! Because you have done nothing but complain ever since you got here! Think about it: even if you joined a monastery you’d still have to deal with difficult people.

Source: The UCB Word For Today, 27/7/2016 and An Enemy Called Average by John Mason, p.35