Donna Tartt

We hadn't intended to hide the body where it couldn't be found.

'Death is the mother of beauty,' said Henry.
'And what is beauty?'
'Terror,' 'Well said,' said Julian. 'Beauty is rarely soft or consolatory.

'We don't like to admit it,' said Julian, 'but the idea of losing control is one that fascinates controlled people such as ourselves more than almost anything. All truly civilized people – the ancients no less than us – have civilized themselves through the willful repression of the old, animal self. Are we, in this room, really very different from the Greeks or the Romans? Obsessed with duty, piety, loyalty, sacrifice? All those things which are to modern tastes so chilling?'