“
…And it was the delight of his eyes and his heart’s desire. And he stretched forth his hand and took hold of it, but he could not retain it; it was offered to him, but he could not possess it alas, for it was the delight of his eyes and his heart’s desire. And his soul was near to despair; but he chose the greater suffering, of losing it and giving it up, to the lesser, which was to possess it without right; or to speak more truly… he chose the lesser suffering of being without it rather than to possess it at the cost of his peace of soul… and strange to relate, it came to pass that it was good for him.
Søren Kierkegaard, recounting in prose his break up with Regina, Journals, 1842
