"It would be better to kill one's self than to live and dry up like a tree."
"Suicide is the vulgar cry of the animal who suffers; it is the rebellion of the atom against the laws of the universe. One must allow the candle of one's life to burn out slowly and calmly to the very end—in that lies happiness."
"So that is happiness?" asked Janina, feeling a sudden chill penetrating her soul.
"Yes. Peace is happiness. To negate everything, to kill one's desires and passions, to tear out of oneself illusions and whims that is the way to attain it. It means to hold fast your soul in the grip of self-knowledge and prevent it from dissipating itself in foolish things."
"Who would want to live under such a yoke? What soul could endure it?"
"The soul is knowledge."
"So you advocate nothing but stony indifference and peace! Never to know of feel anything else but this! No, I prefer the ordinary trend of life."
"There is still another way: the best remedy for our mental sufferings is to expand our hearts, to become one with nature."
"Let us drop that. I don't like to speak about it, for it stirs me too strongly."
They both remained silent for a long while. The old man gazed into the water and mumbled something to himself, while Janina was rapt in thought.