rder to shine in
politics, literature, art, commerce or private life--that these men
should all marry with the intention of being happy, of governing a wife,
either by love or by force, and should all tumble into the same pitfall
and should become foolish, after having enjoyed a certain happiness for
a certain time,--this is certainly a problem whose solution is to be
found rather in the unknown depths of the human soul, than in the quasi
physical truths, on the basis of which we have hitherto attempted to
explain some of these phenomena. The risky search for the secret laws,
which almost all men are bound to violate without knowing it, under
these circumstances, promises abundant glory for any one even though he
make shipwreck in the enterprise upon which we now venture to set forth.
Let us then make the attempt.

In spite of all that fools have to say about the difficulty they have
had in explaining love, there are certain principles relating to it
as infallible as those of geometry; but in each character these are
modified according to its tendency; hence the caprices of love, which
are due to the infinite number of varying temperaments. If we were
permitted never to see the various effects of light without also
perceiving on what they were based, many minds would refuse to believe
in the movement of the sun and in its oneness. Let the blind men cry
out as they like; I boast with Socrates, although I am not as wise as
he was, that I know of naught save love; and I intend to attempt the
formulation of some of its precepts, in order to spare married people
the trouble of cudgeling their brains; they would soon reach the limit
of their wit.

Now all the preceding observations may be resolved into a single
proposition, which may be considered either the first or last term in
this secret theory of love, whose statement would end by wearying us, if
we did not bring it to a prompt conclusion. This principle is contained
in the following formula:

LVII.
Between two beings susceptible of love, the duration of passion is in
proportion to the original resistance of the woman, or to the obstacles
which the accidents of social life put in the way of your happiness.

If you have desired your object only for one day, your love perhaps will
not last more than three nights. Where must we seek for the causes of
this law? I do not know. If you cast your eyes around you, you will find
abundant