" Poor Terence. Poor, dear, gentle Terence. He had been searching for something all his life -he said as much himself- and he had never found it. And that thing, of course, was love, although he never saw it that way. He said that he was looking for enlightment, for beauty; he said that he was looking for the sacred principle that informed the world. And all the time he was looking for that simple thing that all of us look for; that we yearn for throughout our lives. Just to be loved. That was all. "

― Alexander McCall Smith , Corduroy Mansions (Corduroy Mansions, #1)