Status Updates From La Mort à Venise/Der Tod in...

"They were like self-centered invalids who absorb themselves in trifles, as narcotics to console them for the loss of hope. With an inward gesture of renunciation they doffed aside the evil-smelling world and loved each other alone, for the priceless sake of their own rare uselessness."

It's good to walk in the morning, with senses rejuvenated and spirit cleansed by the night's long healing draught of Lethe. You look forward to the day, yet hesitate to begin it, being master as you are of this little untroubled span of time between. You indulge in the illusion that your life is steady, simple, concentrated, and contemplative, that you belong entirely to yourself—and this illusion makes you happy.