We must select the illusion which appeals to our temperament, and embrace it with passion. - Cyril Connolly

Is it possible to love any human being without being torn limb from limb?

We fear something before we hate it; a child who fears noises becomes a man who hates noises.

Beneath a mask of selfish tranquility nothing exists except bitterness and boredom. I am one of those whom suffering has made empty and frivolous: each night in my dreams I pull the scab off a wound; each day, vacuous and habit-ridden, I help it re-form.