The pain from the death of a loved one—cat, dog, or person—is the loss of an irreplaceable relationship. Eugène Delacroix:
I have a sad bereavement. I have lost my aunt whom I loved like a mother. She was a woman of grand character for whom (rare thing) spiritual qualities took precedence; one had to admire her, even without loving her; you can imagine then what a gap this leaves in my lonely life. Live, then, dear friend, cherish the precious spark which makes you not only live but love and be loved. I know now by experience that we really live through other people; when one of the beings who are necessary to our existence disappears he takes away with him a whole world of feelings which no other relationship can revive.
(Quoted from page 41 of Masterpieces of European Painting, 1800 — 1920, in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Yale University Press, 2007.)
For a brief biography of Eugène Delacroix, click here. For images of or relating Eugène Delacroix, click here.
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