He loved her so passionately he wanted her to be one soul and one body with him; and he was conscious that here, with those deep roots attaching her … - William Somerset Maugham

"Stunning, isn't it?" he said then, giving her arm an affectionate pressure.
"Yes, it's all right. What business is it of yours?"
Charley turned his head sharply. No one had ever asked him a question like that about a picture before. "What on earth d'you mean? It's one of the great portraits of the world. Titian, you know." "I daresay. But what's it got to do with you?" Charley didn't quite know what to say. "Well, it's a very fine picture and it's beautifully painted. Of course it doesn't tell a story if that's what you mean." "No, I don't," she smiled. "I don't suppose it's got anything to do with me really." "Then why should you bother about it?"

A little smoke lost in the air, that was the life of a man.

Conversion may come under many shapes, and it may be brought about in many ways. With some men it needs a cataclysm, as a stone may be broken to fragments by the fury of a torrent; but with some it comes gradually, as a stone may be worn away by the ceaseless fall of a drop of water.