If I were to share Jaques' existence I would find it hard to hold my own against him, for already I found his nihilism contagious. - Simone de Beauvoir

"; the man who does not "understand" a woman is happy to replace his subjective deficiency with an objective resistance; instead of admitting his ignorance, he recognizes the presence of a mystery exterior to himself: here is an excuse that flatters his laziness and vanity at the same time."

ephemeral and useless, flowers exemplify the gratuitousness of occasions that mean expenses and luxury; blooming in vases, doomed to a rapid death, flowers are ceremonial bonfires, incense and myrrh, libation, sacrifice.

Whether you think of it as heavenly or as earthly, if you love life immortality is no consolation for death.