"I know it very well.

It is nothing but the sudden wish for a little harmless excitement, nothing else in the world, my dear boy, and it is certainly nothing to be ashamed of.

It does not follow that it is at all convenient to yield to it, but we feel it because we lead such a very quiet life." "But surely, we are perfectly happy," observed Marcello.
"Perfectly, absolutely happy.

I do not believe that there are any happier people in the world than we three, your mother, you, and I.We have not a wish unfulfilled." "No, except that one, when it comes." "And that does not count in my case," answered Folco.

"You see I have had a good deal of--'harmless excitement' in my life, and I know just what it is like, and that it is quite possible to be perfectly happy without it.