" My sweet, it is this terrible Paris — there’s my excuse. What, pray, is yours? Oh! what a whirlpool is society! Didn’t I tell you once that in Paris one must be as the Parisians? Society there drives out all sentiment; it lays en embargo on your time; and unless you are very careful, soon eats away your heart altogether. "

― Honoré de Balzac , Works of Honore de Balzac