The art of living is the art of knowing how to believe lies. The closing years of life are like the end of a masquerade party, when the masks are dropped. Perfect behavior is born of complete indifference. No one ever kills himself for the love of a woman, but because love - any love - reveals us in our nakedness, our misery, our vulnerability, our nothingness. Living is like working out a long addition sum, and if you make a mistake in the first two totals you will never find the right answer. It means involving oneself in a complicated chain of circumstances. Will power is only the tensile strength of one's own disposition. One cannot increase it by a single ounce. Life is pain and the enjoyment of love is an anesthetic. No one ever lacks a good reason for suicide. No woman marries for money; they are all clever enough, before marrying a millionaire, to fall in love with him first. |