“Hortense was a wife; Valerie a mistress.Many men desire to have these two editions of the same work, although it is proof of deep inferiority in a man if he cannot make his wife his mistress. Seeki...”

“If the artist does not fling himself, without reflecting, into his work, as Curtis flung himself into the yawning gulf, as the soldier flings himself into the enemy's trenches, and if, once in this...”

“Virtue will cut your head off, vice will only cut your hair.”

“What truly captivated Rachael were her eyeswide, deer-like, yet hauntingly sinister green with flecks of gold dancing in silent mirth.”

“My tongue ran over my lower lip and I could taste the sin. It was thick and heavy in the air, and it made my head swim as I gazed into Abel's ocean-colored eyes. I wondered whether he tasted it too...”