I searched everywhere for a proof of reality, when all the while I understood quite well that the standard of reality had changed

No man can describe to another convincingly wherein lies the magic of the woman who ensnares him.

I searched everywhere for a proof of reality, when all the while I understood quite well that the standard of reality had changed

But the wicked passions of men's hearts alone seem strong enough to leave pictures that persist the good are ever too luke-warm.

The best match in the world will not light a candle unless the wick be first suitably prepared.

To the Sabbath! To the Sabbath!' they cried. 'On to the Witches' Sabbath!" Up and down that narrow hall they danced, the women on each side of him, to the wildest measure he had ever imagined, yet which he dimly, dreadfully remembered, till the lamp on the wall flickered and went out, and they were left in total darkness. And the devil woke in his heart with a thousand vile suggestions and made him afraid.

The dark side of life, and the horror of it, belonged to a world that lay remote from his own select little atmosphere of books and dreamings.