Status Updates From Il fu Mattia Pascal

I was depressed also because I saw this man lying with such enjoyment and nonchalance, though he had no need to, whereas I, who couldn't avoid lying, had to force myself, and every time I did, I suffered and felt my spirit writhing within me.

The pleasure that an object affords us does not derive from the object in itself. Our fantasy embellishes it, surrounding it, making it resplendent with images dear to us. Then we no longer see it for what it is, but animated by the images it arouses in us or by the things we associate with it. In short, what we love about the object is what we put in it of ourselves, the harmony established between it and us.