At times I imagine the map of the world spread out and you stretched out diagonally across it. And then it seems to me that for my life only those regions come into consideration that are not covered by you or are not within your reach. And in keeping with the conception I have of your magnitude, these are not many and not very comforting regions, and marriage, in particular, is not among them.

— Franz Kafka, Letter to His Father, 1919 (via)