Pardon My French

… while the purely carnal sight of this woman, by perpetually renewing his doubts about the qualities of her face, her body, of all her beauty, weakened his love, these doubts were destroyed, his love was ensured when it was based instead on the elements of a more reliable aesthetic; furthermore, the kiss and the act of possession which seemed natural and mediocre if accorded him by withered flesh, now completing his veneration of a museum piece, had to promise, it seemed to him, supernatural and delicious pleasures.

Marcel Proust