He let Julius go. There was beginning to rise in him a feeling of profound disgust — a kind of hatred almost, of himself, of Julius, of everything. - André Gide

In order to be utterly happy the only thing necessary is to refrain from comparing this moment with other moments in the past, which I often did not fully enjoy because I was comparing them with other moments of the future.

They establish distinctions and reserves which I cannot apply to myself, for I exist only as a whole; my only claim is to be natural, and the pleasure I feel in an action, I take as a sign that I ought to do it.

La joie est peut être aussi vive ; mais elle entre ne moins avant; elle éveille un écho moins retentissant dans mon coeur. Ah ! Pouvoir ignorer que la vie rétrécit devant moi sa promesse... Mon coeur ne bat pas moins fort qu'à vingt ans.