Francois Mauriac. Desert of Love (№ 421847)

The doctor more than once noticed that life goes without preparatory ceremonies: from his youthful years, almost all the objects of his adoration disappeared suddenly, increased by another affection or, at best, having left the city for good and stopped writing. It is not death that takes away from us those whom we love; on the contrary, it saves them for us, delays them in their captivating youth. Death is the salt of our love; life is what love melts from.