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... Odette seemed a fascinating and desirable woman, the attraction which her body held for him had aroused a painful longing to secure the absolute m...more

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She’s an absolute idiot!” she added with the wisdom invariably shown by people who, not being in love themselves, feel that a clever man should only b...more

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... which would enable him to prolong for the time being, and to renew for one day more the disappointment, the torturing deception that must always c...more

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There can be no peace of mind in love since the advantage one has secured is never anything but a fresh starting-point for further desires.

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Now there is one thing I can tell you: you will enjoy certain pleasures you would not fathom now. When you still had your mother you often thought of ...more

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One says the things which one feels the need to say, and which the other will not understand: one speaks for oneself alone.

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Love is a striking example of how little reality means to us.

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With women who do not love us, as with the "dear departed," the knowledge that there is no hope left does not prevent us from continuing to wait.

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For, like desire, regret seeks not to be analysed but to be satisfied. When one begins to love, one spends one’s time, not in getting to know what one...more

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Jean's desires, like those of all men in love, were concentrated on the impossible.

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When Jean and his mother left Etreuilles, Monsieur Sureau had gathered for them great boxfuls of hawthorn and of snowballs which Madame Santeuil had n...more

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Forgive me, Bertrand, for having on that day loved in you a beauty in which your self-esteem could take no pride, which could not in any way determine...more

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He could see her, but dared not remain for fear of annoying her by seeming to be spying upon the pleasures which she tasted in other company, pleasure...more

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Ah, in those earliest days of love how naturally the kisses spring into life! So closely, in their profusion, do they crowd together that lovers would...more

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At that time, he was satisfying a sensual curiosity by experiencing the pleasures of people who live for love. He had believed he could stop there, th...more