Ben Hambrecht’s Reviews > Sodom and Gomorrah > Status Update

„Among the human race the rule […] is that the reputedly hard people are weak people whom nobody wants, and that the strong, caring little whether they are wanted or not, have alone that meekness which the common herd mistake for
weakness.“

„The thing that really mattered was not to gaze at the view like tourists, but to partake of good meals there, to entertain people whom they liked, to write letters, to read books, in short to live in these surroundings,
passively allowing the beauty of the scene to soak into them rather than making it the object of their attention.“

…aaaand now the narrator has officially mutated from sweet nice guy to manipulative insecure POS boyfriend. No wonder the next volume is titled "The Prisoner". Albertine, stay strong

"We devote ourselves to the pastime of seeking to attract, while unable to love."

What a sentence. I have nothing to add.