But there is nothing enduring in the world, and therefore even joy in the second minute is already not as acute as in the first; in the third minute it becomes still weaker and finally merges unnoticeably with the usual condition of the soul, as a circle on the water, caused by the fall of a pebble, finally merges with the smooth surface.
Nikolai GogolIn the end dreams became his life, and his whole life thereafter took a strange turn: one might say he slept while waking and watched while asleep.
Nikolai Gogol